30 Years of Night
by YummyFoods
Summary: Alucard/OC, minor Seras/Pip. Chosen from a young age to become Alucard's bride and the No-Life Queen, Maria's life is fraught with danger and darkness. Can she survive Millennium and Alucard while maintaining her humanity? P.S. Bring a glass and some sugar because I brought the lemons.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello! This is an Alucard/OC and slight Seras/Pip Hellsing fanfic I wrote in the past two months. It is complete with 30 chapters and I will be uploading them once or twice a week depending on demand. This story was a way to pass the time and improve my writing skills overall, so I'd love any input. This first chapter is really just setting things up, but the plot will pick up towards the end.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

It was twilight, and the air was filled with the sounds of gunfire and screams. The crisp fall breeze carried the fragrances of gunpowder, blood, and anguish.

In short, it was a symphony to Alucard, who was unhurriedly making his way through a ghoul-infested manor in search of the host, his trusty Casull and Jackal making quick work of the herd of ghouls. Alucard chuckled to himself as one of his bullets shot through one of the mindless beasts, wrending a great hole in its chest and splattering fetid blood everywhere.

Something was amiss, though. He could hear the heartbeat of a human from the second floor. Unless the host liked to play with his food before he ate it, there was no chance that a mortal had survived the sea of famished ghouls.

His interest piqued, he doubled the pace of his firing. The thirty or so zombies that had been running at him all fell before they could kiss his bootheels.

Alucard floated weightlessly up through the ceiling and to the second floor, where there were a handful more freaks that were dealt with in a matter of moments. He could sense the presence of not one but three host vampires and a single human behind the door to his left, and a sneer twisted his lips impossibly, revealing his shark teeth.

He didn't even need to see into the room; his ears and nose were sharp enough that he had already pinpointed the vampires' locations. The mortal was on the floor, though its quick pulse indicated that it was conscious.

Alucard fired both of his guns, blowing holes into the door and the three targets, who hissed and yowled as the silver bullets purified and destroyed them. The door was tenaciously hanging onto the wall by a single hinge and Alucard faded through it and into the room. The survivor would need to be taken to the soldiers.

He had expected a woman or man to be huddled on the floor, cowering in fear or unconscious, but there was nothing but a wriggling bundle of cloth between where the vampires had been standing.

Kneeling down, his crimson eyes grew wide as he realized that it was an infant just over a year old. It wasn't wailing like a normal babe would when it had been surrounded by monsters and was now covered in their blood. On the contrary, Alucard's expression turned to a dark, mouth-splitting grin as he saw the child laugh and reach out for him. Its eyes were a brilliant emerald that clashed gloriously with the blood that speckled its smooth cheeks.

"You would reach for a monster?" he asked, more to himself than to it.

His inky black hair sprouted until it reached the floor and the tendrils picked up the child and placed it in his arms, where it smiled anew and touched a bloody hand to Alucard's cold cheek.

Never before had he seen something so innocent so at home in carnage. It made his still heart twitch in excitement. This, this was what he had been seeking for untold years.

He silently took off his red overcoat and wrapped the child up in it. The thin blanket would do little to insulate it from the cold fall air.

"You will do nicely," he whispered.

It cooed as it clutched at his now shoulder-length locks.

The first thing he was met with upon exiting the empty manor was Integra, who was flanked by Hellsing soldiers and looking more imperious than any ten-year-old had a right to.

Her authoritative scowl turned to one of suspicion. "Is that a baby?"

"Yes," Alucard answered. "It's mine."

Integra demanded, "Vampires cannot have children. What on earth are you prattling on about?"

It seemed that despite her family's infinite knowledge of the arcane, the Hellsing heir was unaware of this facet of vampirism. A smug smirk curled his lips.

"This child will be my queen," he explained simply.

"Your what? It can't even stand."

"I will wait, and in that time I will ready it."

"Alucard, I can't let you take an infant."

The dark smile fell away to be replaced with a frown and his fingers curled imperceptibly tighter against the bundle in his arms.

"I will not relinquish it. It is mine."

"I order you to hand it to the authorities, servant," the blonde decreed.

He couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips when the sigils on his gloves failed to energize and force him into compliance. He knew from the start that she wouldn't be able to stop him for taking the child.

"It's my right as the No-Life King," he hissed as Integra stared in open-mouthed shock. "No mortal magic can deny me this."

"You can't be serious. You can't raise a mortal child. You'll kill it."

Alucard tutted his master. "There have been children raised by wolves. This one will be raised by a monster."

And with that, his shadows engulfed him and his new charge and he was gone, leaving Integra trembling with rage.

He materialized in his chambers in the Hellsing estate. A look down at the babe in his arms showed that it had fallen asleep, a lock of his hair still clutched in its tiny hand. It looked so tranquil in his cold arms that he was taken aback. Did this little creature already understand its fate on some level? Had it accepted it?

The sun was about to rise and fatigue was beginning to trickle into him. His shadows swelled over him and the child, wiping the blood and other detritus from them before opening his black coffin. His boots and other clothing melted away until he was in only his slacks and a white undershirt.

The coffin was only big enough for one, so Alucard lay down and rested the babe on his chest, still swaddled in his red overcoat. Its soft breaths were oddly calming.

He grinned to himself. The next couple decades were bound to be quite interesting.

* * *

He chose the name Maria, partially because he had always liked the name and partially because he knew it it would infuriate his master beyond all belief that he was giving his queen the same name as Jesus' mother. She had turned such a delightful shade of red when he had informed her of his choice. Even now it brought a smirk to his lips.

She was six now, and even he was surprised by how easily she accepted the darkness. She had never cried, not even once. Her nights rose and set in time with Alucard's, and she was always at his side, except when he was sent away for a mission. During those times, she was babysat by Alucard's trusty hellhound and Walter. She usually spent her time pestering the vampire, perfecting her aim at the shooting range with him or Seras, or riding around on the great hellhound she had named "Mr. Eyes."

Exceptionally precocious, she could already speak three languages: English, Italian, and Romanian. Italian was a practical choice, as the Vatican bastards had been in business for two millennia and showed no signs of slowing down yet. Romanian, while less practical, because Alucard enjoyed the sound of it.

The No-Life King was seated in his high-backed chair, his boots propped up on the nearby table as he read a book he had procured from the library. Maria was somewhere above playing, no doubt pestering Seras or Walter, if he was still wake.

 _Alucard_ , her singsong voice flitted into his mind. Though he hadn't turned her yet, she had been bestowed with a few vampiric powers as his future bride. It was a mental bond similar to the one he shared with Seras, allowing them to communicate freely between each other with a bit of concentration.

 _Hmm?_

 _You would catch me if I fell, right?_

In a flash, he was able to see from her point of view. She was sitting on one of the balcony ledges, her feet dangling precariously over the edge. The ground was three stories below.

 _No_ , he said simply.

 _You liar. I bet you'd catch me._

He snorted. She was impudent today. _Jump and you will do nothing but break your bones._

Maria paused, considering his words, before giggling and pushing herself over the edge. This welp, he sighed to himself, sending his shadows to her aid. They cushioned her fall just enough that she couldn't be killed, but enough that the arm she landed on broke and she would be covered in bruises.

 _I told you,_ he said coldly.

 _I can't believe you didn't catch me._ She sounded betrayed and angry.

Alucard laughed darkly. _Then you are a simpleton. I am not your protector. You must rely on yourself if you wish to become strong._

He watched with his mind's eye as she gave a dignified sniff, holding in the pain radiating from her broken radius. She hobbled back into the castle in search of Walter, who would fetch the doctor.

He couldn't help but smile as he saw her biting back her pain. She had more grit than any of the soldiers Hellsing had on payroll, excluding the police girl.

After Maria had roused Walter and had him get the doctor, she made her way down to Alucard's dungeon. He didn't look up from his book as she neared him, lifting one arm up so she could crawl onto his lap.

"You sent your shadows at the last minute, didn't you?" she whispered, a devious glee in her fiery emerald eyes. "The ground was much too soft when I fell."

Alucard chuckled, pleased with the girl for noticing. "Perceptive," he praised, and went back to his book.

"My arm hurts," she admitted after a while.

"Let the pain serve as a reminder not to be so foolhardy. The doctor is on his way."

Her chocolate curls tickled Alucard's cold flesh as she leaned against him.

"My birthday is next month," she reminded him. He turned another page in his book, but she knew that he was listening to her. "What are you going to get me?"

"Nothing, if you keep jumping from balconies."

She put on a pout. "I've learned my lesson; I'm not going to do it again. Please tell me what my present is."

"You will wait until your birthday to find out."

"You're no fun," she whined.

A small smile grew on his lips. He did enjoy teasing her.

Before long, the doctor showed up to x-ray the girl's left arm. It had been a clean break, and all he could do was put it in a cast. She frowned at the offensive appendage and swung the heavy cast about experimentally.

"I don't like it," she decided, and she spun around in Alucard's lap to look up at him. "Why is it that you go on all these dangerous missions and never get hurt?"

Alucard closed the book. It was nearing daybreak now, and her fall had taken a toll on Maria. There were dark circles under her eyes as she gazed up at him.

"Because only a pathetic little mortal gets wounded when they fall or are shot."

His wine red gaze was reflected in her emerald ones, and he could foresee how she would look when he turned her. It made him impatient.

"Will I be like you someday?"

"Yes," he hissed, his grin inhumanly wide. It made any other mortal uneasy, but Maria had never minded it. "You will have all of my power and kingdom. You will be the Queen of the Night."

"I'd rather be a princess," she yawned.

* * *

On her seventh birthday, Alucard gifted Maria with her first Hellsing issue silver-bullet firing pistol. It was a small thing, modeled off a Derringer. It fit perfectly in her little hands and she had never been happier.

"Does this mean that I can come with you now?" she had asked eagerly.

He nodded, and she was so pleased that she wrapped her arms around the vampire in a rare show of affection.

She crowed, "Thank you, thank you, thank you! It's the best present ever!"

"You will heed my every command," he warned.

"Of course!"

As luck would have it, there was a disturbance the following week that required Alucard's assistance, so he picked her up with one arm and allowed his shadows to swallow them up and transport them to the small village with a freak infestation. She giggled as the shadows tickled her exposed arms, and Integra and Walter watched the scene in mild horror.

What child in their right mind would be excited to be carried into battle against freaks by a five hundred year-old vampire? They wondered how much Alucard had molded her, and how much of her was natural.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Walter asked.

Integra turned around, already heading back upstairs to pressing matters as she replied dismissively, "Alucard would never let anything happen to her."

At the village, all that could be heard were gunshots and gleeful giggles. Maria sat on Alucard's shoulders, taking careful aim before blasting away a ghoul with each shot, her ear-to-ear grin making her uncannily resemble the Nosferatu.

A few of the ghouls had firearms of their own and aimed for the two of them. Normally, Alucard would let the bullets pass through him, but today his shadows were wrapped protectively around Maria, absorbing the bullets and spitting them out before they could reach her.

"This is so much fun!" the girl exclaimed as she shot one of the ghouls in the head.

"It only gets better from here," he said darkly, unable to keep a smile off his lips. This girl was still so small, yet she was just as enthralled by the carnage as he was. Her little heart was fluttering with excitement and its staccato only made his hunger grow. He couldn't help but hope that there was a mortal around that had seen too much or had been culpable so that he could have a fresh meal. The medical blood was alright, but nothing could ever compare to the velvety richness of warm, sweet blood flowing from a living body.

They had dispatched all of the ghouls in plain eyesight, but their work wasn't over yet.

"There's more ahead, past those buildings," Maria said helpfully, pointing to the south.

Of course Alucard had been aware of the ghouls' presence, but he was pleasantly surprised that she had been able to sense them from such a distance. He had yet to give her any of his blood and begin truly giving her power, yet just from being around him for so long she had absorbed enough of his dark energy to pick up on the unique energy of the ghouls even when they were a quarter of a mile away.

"Very good," he praised, and she giggled and nuzzled his soft black hair with her nose.

They headed in the direction of the ghouls, with Maria casting about warily. He had taught her to always be vigilant, and she was obeying perfectly.

Alucard waited to open fire on them until they were within Maria's weak human eyesight. She laughed as she took them out one-by-one, revelling in their growls and guts.

"Now what do we do?" she asked as she landed a shot squarely between the last freak's eyes.

"Now, we find the host."

"Will I get to kill him too?"

"Perhaps."

"Oh please, can I?" she implored, looking down at him with those emerald puppy dog eyes.

Part of him rankled at her begging, which he despised. The other part of him was amused, however.

"Why do you want to kill the vampire?" he asked.

Her reply was just two words. "It's fun."

That was all the explanation he needed. He threw his head back and let loose a long, deep laugh. She laughed with him, though her voice carried none of the madness that his did.

Further into the village they traipsed, taking out the occasional ghoul they came across. It wasn't long until they had reached the center of town and the courthouse, where the vampire was waiting with two half-alive mortals whom he had been feeding from gradually. They were semi-conscious and lying on the dewy grass on either side of him, blood slowly leaking from their wrists. The No-Life King wasn't fond of sloppy seconds, but his cravings were strong enough that he would take what he could get tonight. Just the thought of the warm blood coursing from their veins and into his open mouth had his fangs burning with desire.

The vampire was a weakling who didn't know his limits. He charged at Alucard and the child as though he thought he stood a chance, and the old vampire grinned as the girl on his shoulders unflinchingly took aim and fired.

The disappointing creature screamed and turned to dust when the bullet passed straight into his heart and out the other end.

"I did it!" Maria exclaimed.

"You did," was all the vampire said before setting her down on the ground. "Wait here. I have some loose ends to tie up."

"The humans? What are you going to do with them? Aren't they about to die?"

The girl didn't know how true her words rang.

He glided towards them as they both struggled to sit up. The vampire's thrall combined with blood loss had kept them sedated, but with the vampire dead and its hypnotic hold over them gone, they were beginning to stir.

He met the eyes of the most lively, a petite redhead with glassy black eyes.

"Be still," he murmured. "It will all be over soon."

Already mesmerized by his glowing red eyes, she relaxed and closed her eyes, and Alucard knelt down beside her before sinking his elongated fangs into her neck. She let out a soft moan of pleasure and then the warm, red elixir was flowing into his open mouth, its flavor made ever the more exquisite by the rarity of its freshness.

It was over too soon, and a pang of hot indignation flashed through him when she ran dry. He retracted his fangs and looked up to see Maria watching him.

She was biting down on her lip, but not as though she were trying to swallow aversion. On the contrary, her grass green eyes were shimmering with a feverish want.

"Can...can I…?" It seemed as though the girl had nearly lost the ability to speak.

Now this-this was the most interesting thing she had done yet. In a few years, once he began conferring his powers to her, she would start to crave blood even though she was still a mortal. It was as unexpected as it was pleasing that she desired it already.

"This isn't a monster like the ghouls or vampire," he warned in a soft voice as she stepped closer. "This is a mortal just like you."

"No, it isn't," she argued calmly. "This weak girl is nothing like me. We are the same in name only."

If he had ever had a shadow of doubt in his choice, she had just ripped into shreds. A grin cut into his lips as he beckoned the girl closer and she ran to him. The second girl was barely awake, patiently awaiting her fate. Maria was on her hands and knees beside her and Alucard, looking at the girl covetously.

"You mustn't tell Master," he cautioned.

"Yes." She would have agreed to anything he demanded at that moment.

Smile still on his cold lips, he took the woman's hand and bit into the underside of her wrist, allowing the precious blood to leak down her arm. He proffered it to the child, who to her credit hesitated for a moment before leaning forward and dragging her tongue along a rivulet. Alucard was riveted as he watched her throat bob when she swallowed it down.

He couldn't contain the dark laugh that rumbled forth as the girl began to suck in earnest on the woman's wrist. Had it been anyone else, he would have felt cheated out of a well-earned reward. But watching this sweet mortal child succumb so completely to the darkness was a reward all unto itself.

It was a few minutes until Maria had gotten her fill and pulled away from the girl's wrist. A thin trail of blood trailed from her lip and Alucard wiped it away with a gloved thumb.

"How was it?" he asked, already knowing her answer.

The brunette considered for a bit, as though trying to think of the right words. "It's like I've been thirsty for it this whole time and never realized."

The vampire was veritably brimming with pride for this girl. He had no doubt that she would become the finest vampire ever, second only to him. He said nothing, however, and finished draining the woman beside them.

"What happens to them now?" Maria asked once he had stood up to his full height.

"Now the soldiers come in and clean everything up, including them."

Her next question was a bit hesitant, as though she felt guilty voicing it. "Are there always people like them with the vampires?"

"Hungry for more, my dear?" he teased, and when she pouted up at him he smiled. "No, they're not. You've been spoiled on your first mission."

She sighed and then yawned. "Can we go home now?"

His shadows enveloped them once more and they were back at the Hellsing estate, specifically in Integra's office. She had been in a conversation with Walter when the two came out of the floor, and the two fell silent upon their entrance.

"What have I told you about using doors, Alucard?" she ground out.

"Apologies," he said unapologetically. The six-eyed hellhound trotted through the wall and towards Maria.

"Mr. Eyes!" she cried in greeting. "I had so much fun! You should've seen it! There were all these ghouls and I was like 'bam bam bam!' and they all died! And then-and then Alucard even let me shoot the vampire!"

Mr. Eyes seemed bored by her spirited tale and made her drop the subject by giving her a challenging look and bounding to the other side of the room. Maria giggled and the two engaged in a wild game of tag while the two adults and vampire watched.

"That summarizes the mission," Alucard said.

"Did she really kill the vampire?" his master asked.

Alucard nodded. "A perfect shot to the heart."

"And she is unfazed by everything?"

The three watched as she laughed and chased after Mr. Eyes, who kept diving into the floor and through the walls to evade her grasp.

"She sensed the freaks' presence from a quarter of a mile," he said, inwardly preening.

The mortals' eyebrows rose in surprise. Walter said, "But you haven't given her any of you blood yet."

"It seems she is even more eager to become a Child of the Night than I had hoped," he grinned. "She absorbs a small amount of my energy and it allows her these abilities."

Integra heaved a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. "What are we getting ourselves into with this child?" she muttered to herself. She then turned back to Alucard, back to business. "You're dismissed."

He gave her a short bow and the hellhound bounded through the wall. Maria let out a disappointed groan and then turned to Alucard.

"It's unfair that Mr. Eyes can run away like that. I can never win!"

"Then you'll have to learn how to walk through walls, won't you?" he said teasingly, then turned on his heel. "Come. The sun will rise soon."

Maria gave a polite bow to Integra and Walter before running to catch up with the undead's long strides.

"Can I really learn how to?" she asked, looking up at him hopefully.

"Perhaps in a few years."

"You hear that, Mr. Eyes?" Maria said loudly, as the hellhound in question was nowhere within sight. "Your days are numbered!"

* * *

For someone who had existed for over five centuries, a decade was over in almost the blink of an eye. In that short time, Maria had sprouted into the most beautiful and dangerous woman ever to walk the Earth. She was peerless among the other mortal Hellsing soldiers thanks to Alucard's extensive training and her natural but very slight osmosis of his powers. She was brutally beautiful, with long tresses of chocolate brown spirals and emerald eyes that could almost enthrall an unsuspecting mortal. Receiving her smile felt like a blessing from God, and receiving her displeasure meant tasting unholy wrath.

On this night, her sixteenth birthday, Alucard summoned her to his chambers. She entered, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"It's barely sunset," she groaned.

"You would sleep the night away if left to your own devices," he chided, "even though tonight is a special occasion."

She perked up at this and took her customary seat on his lap, sitting sideways so she could rest her back on the arm of the chair and look up at him easily. "What did you get me for my birthday?" she asked.

A subtle smile upturned his lips as he took her in. "Now that you have come of age, it is time to begin the ritual."

Her eyes widened and she gave a quiet gasp.

"There is no turning back once it has begun," he continued, his smile only growing as he saw her breath catch in her throat, elation and disbelief on her features, "so I will ask: Do you agree to become my queen, my equal? Are you willing to stay by my side for all of time?"

Her answer flew from her lips the very moment he had finished speaking. "Yes. Yes, please."

Tonight Alucard was dressed only in his black slacks, white undershirt, and black vest. He unhurriedly took off the cufflink on his right wrist, and Maria watched in silent apprehension as he bit down on the exposed wrist. The two punctures began to weep his deep crimson blood, and the young woman chewed on her lip to contain her excitement.

"Drink," he commanded, his voice black silk. "Drink and take the first step down the path of becoming true immortal."

She took his hand in hers and unhesitatingly lapped at the long trail flowing down his forearm. A soft sound of longing and satisfaction issued from her lips as the red elixir met her tongue and overwhelmed her senses in its complexity. His blood was completely different from the human blood she had been drinking ever since her first mission with him. It had an iron undertone, but it also tasted of exotic spices and burned her tongue slightly, leaving it tingling. It was exquisite, and she had half a mind to drain him if he would let her.

Maria quickly licked her way up to the pulsepoint where he had bit into himself, desperately suckling and licking the wound in search of more.

She felt his other hand run through her curls in an unusually affectionate way, and he continued his ministrations as she continued hers. Vaguely, she felt like a cat who was being rewarded for obediently drinking the milk its master had set out for it.

Maria wasn't sure how long she had been attached to his arm when the flow slowed and gradually stopped. She let out a grunt of frustration and renewed her efforts, but Alucard's hand had stilled in her hair.

"Just a taste for tonight," he said in an unmistakably teasing tone.

The girl reluctantly pulled away from his arm and looked up to him, her emerald eyes blown with bloodlust. A line of his blood trailed from her lips and he wiped it away with a thumb. She instantly took his gloved hand and sucked on the digit, her eyes closed as she groaned in bliss.

He hadn't expected the girl to hunger for him so, and when she drew his thumb into her mouth and sucked on it wantonly a thrill of arousal shot down to his cock. He repressed the urge as soon as he felt it, though. She was still young and she wasn't aware of how he would react to such a display.

"When can we do it again?" she whispered, looking up at him through her long lashes.

"A month from today."

She let out a disappointed sigh, but didn't complain. She knew that he abhorred such behavior.

"And how long until I can finally become a vampire?"

"Five years."

He saw the disappointment in her hazy gaze, even though she didn't voice it. He tucked an errant curl behind her ear.

"Patience," he whispered. "That night will come sooner than you can imagine."

Maria nodded obediently, but he could see another question in her gaze. "Why did you choose me?"

"Because you were born to be mine," he said simply.

That vague answer seemed to satisfy her because she gave him a beautiful smile. "Thank you for the birthday present."

He said nothing, but moved to stand up and she rose to her feet with him. She was due on the training grounds in ten minutes and she still had to change. Flashing him a quick grin, she hurried out of his chambers and to her own, where she threw on the standard issue Hellsing uniform and grabbed her gun before dashing out to the obstacle course.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for the read! Leave a comment and tell me what you thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Welcome to Chapter 2, in which there is a bit more citrusy stuff and a bit of action. Also, Romanian. I tried to write it in a way that you could understand through context, but I'll have the English at the end of the chapter. I don't speak Romanian, so if there is a mistake I humbly apologize and blame Google translate.

* * *

Tonight was the dummy run with real ghouls in the maze-like course. It was by far her favorite kind of training, even though the fun paled in comparison to a real mission with an actual vampire or two to hunt down.

She was excited to have an opportunity to test her abilities so soon. She had felt Alucard's ancient power in his blood, giving it that burning, tingling sensation that she found so addicting. And now she could feel his energy coursing through her own veins ever so slightly. She flexed her fingers experimentally, though the motion felt no different from before.

Maria stood at attention in the first row of soldiers, her back straight and special issue pistol holstered at her side. She had grown big enough over the years that the first gun Alucard had given her had now become her secondary one, usually hidden in her bra. Her mainstay was a gun not dissimilar to the Casull. It was a long-barreled semi-automatic 50 calibre handgun that fired mercury-tipped silver bullets, and the grips were inlaid with fire opals.

Seras stood before the men as their leader and said, "For the first round, Maria will be entering the maze alone."

The other soldiers looked to her and each other concernedly. They had recently gotten a lot of new recruits who weren't aware of her uniqueness. A quick glance at her and one would easily assume she was just a girl in the wrong place at the wrong time, with her long curls and angelically sweet face.

She stepped forward, a grin curling her lips. "Yes, ma'am," she saluted, and then proceeded to the initial chamber by vaulting over the ledge before them. She landed on the hard tile with an almost feline grace.

"Is she going to be alright?" she heard the men whisper above. Maria was pleased to notice that her hearing had improved.

"She's so small-she'll just be eaten."

She heard Seras say, "Maria is our most accomplished soldier other than myself. I think she'll do just fine." The Draculina called down to her, "You know what to do when you hear the buzzer."

Maria nodded and pulled out her gun, facing the solid steel door that she would go through to enter the maze.

She felt the comfortingly heavy presence of Alucard in her peripherals and she didn't need to look to know that he was standing on the ledge beside Seras, looking down at her through his red spectacles.

The buzzer sounded and Maria entered the maze at a relaxed gait. She used to have to focus to sense the presence of ghouls, but now it came as easy as breathing. There were thirty in total, and three were quickly approaching. They would round the corner to her left in a few moments.

 _You must be extremely bored to come watch me,_ she said to Alucard.

His deep tones filled her mind as she took aim and eliminated the three freaks. _I hope you can amuse me._

If a show was what he wanted, then a show was what he would get, she decided with a grin. There were five more ghouls coming toward her, but instead of shooting them she darted straight at them and vaulted over their heads. They spun around and began running after her, but she just giggled and continued sprinting through the maze. The sound of her footfalls and laughter alerted the other freaks in the maze and she could feel them all drawing nearer. She had come to the central room of the maze, which connected eight different halls. They were all barrelling toward her, but she just grinned and holstered her gun.

"Is she out of her mind?" she could hear a soldier ask another.

 _I hope you have a plan,_ Alucard rumbled in her mind.

She didn't bother to reply. The ghouls were closing in now, only a few yards away and not slowing down, their arms outstretched and ready to rip the flesh from her bones. Maria felt no fear as the corpses growled and surrounded her; she was filled with an excitement so great her teeth chattered. She reached inside herself, calling forth the power she had received from Alucard's blood, and watched as her shadow melted and crawled up her body, taking the shape of ten long claws on her fingers.

Chuckling, she used her new weapons to tear into the first freak with a vicious swipe, leaving a hole in its chest where its heart had been. She was a bellicose ballerina, the ghouls' fetid blood spurting everywhere as she danced about the room, always escaping their clutches. A beheading here, a disembowelment there, one particularly vicious flying kick to the head, and all of the twenty-seven ghouls lay in mutilated heaps around her.

Their blood, foul though it was, was calling to her in a haunting song she had never heard before. She looked at her stained hands and, entranced by them, opened her mouth and extended her tongue to taste the silky smooth-

 _That's enough._

Alucard's calm but authoritative words rang out in her head and she jumped as if awakened from a dream.

"A clear pass," Maria heard Seras say from above. "You are dismissed."

The girl saluted mechanically and then exited the labyrinth. Alucard was waiting for her at the exit, his arms crossed as he appraised her with an amused smirk.

"Did I manage to entertain His Majesty?" Maria asked him, wiping off some of the ghoul blood on her face with the back of her hand. Its siren song had quieted since the vampire had brought her back to her senses, but it still riled her.

"Quite," he grinned. "Your use of your shadow was shrewd and your instincts were flawless. Even if you did nearly lose control at the end."

A snarl twisted her features for a moment before she schooled her expression in the calm, angelic face she showed to everyone. Her rancor bled into her voice as she muttered, "I don't know why that happened. I've never craved it so strongly. It was calling to me."

"The hunger will only get stronger. Mind that you do not lose yourself to it. It would be a shame if I had to put a bullet through the head of my queen."

She nodded. "I'm off to take a shower, then."

"Return to my chambers when you are finished."

Maria watched as he sank into the ground and vanished, wondering what business he could have with her. It was rare for him to call her to his dungeon twice in a night. She couldn't afford to dwell on it for too long, though, as the song seemed to be getting louder now that he was gone. She nearly ran back to the castle and to her own room in the dungeons, where she all but leapt into the shower and scrubbed every last trace of the ghouls from her body.

She was reminded of Alucard's gentle touch as she shampooed her long locks, and she bathed absently as she pondered the unusual gesture. Even when she had been a child, the only times they had physical contact was when she was perched on his shoulders during a mission or when she sat on his lap. She idolized him and saw him as her savior, but had never viewed him as a parent. One of her earliest memories was of her asking Alucard if he was her father. He had given her a condescending look and said, "I am not your father; I am your creator."

Maria's throat burned with a hunger stronger than any she had ever felt. Ever since her first mission and taste of blood, she had developed a small craving for it which Alucard indulged on occasion by giving her one of his medical blood packs, and, on even rarer occasions, with the fresh stuff. This was all hidden from Sir Integra, though, who would be absolutely incensed by a human drinking another human's blood. Even if that human was slated to become the next No-Life Queen.

Having only left the manor to complete missions, Maria's sole experience with people told her that they all feared and abhorred vampires, and the vain or weak attempted to become a Childe of the Night. She was neither vain nor weak, yet she couldn't wait to join the No-Life King in eternity. Somehow, she had always known that it was her fate.

" _Do you know why you stay with me and not the other humans?"_ _Alucard asked her._

 _She was small, only three or four, sitting on his lap and holding a doll. She looked up to him and said plainly, "I'm different from them."_

 _A knowing smile was spreading across his lips, his ruby eyes glowing. "And what makes you different?"_

" _I'm the only one who will follow you forever."_

She had felt nothing but eager when Alucard had gifted her with the first taste of his blood tonight. Finally, the moment she had been waiting for her whole life had come. She had imagined this day for years, and his blood had been even more scrumptious than she had imagined. But she hadn't expected how heady his power would be and how aroused it would make her. His blood had warmed her entire body, made her tremble with her desire for it and everything else the Nosferatu could give her.

Even now, she could feel the tingle of arousal returning.

She shook her head, forcing herself to dispel such thoughts lest he should pick up on them and tease her. She knew that she was to become his Queen, but she wasn't entirely sure what the title entailed. Was she to be his bride in all senses of the word? She had never seen him do anything remotely sexual in nature. Did he even think about such things?

 _I tire of waiting, girl,_ his growled in her mind, and Maria jumped nervously at the sudden intrusion.

"Speak of the Devil," she muttered before hurrying to tousle her curls dry. She threw on one of her off-duty outfits: a short, flowing grey shirt and a black tank top.

She knocked on his door and it opened of its own accord. The room was pitch black, but Maria's eyesight was keener than other mortals; she could see the silhouette of his chair and table in the distance.

"What did you want?" she asked, knowing that he was sitting in his throne even though she couldn't see him.

His words were a whisper that tickled her ear. "I think a reward is in order for your demonstration earlier."

She turned to face him, excitement growing with her at his words. He stood mere centimeters from her in his casual wear, looming over her with a fanged grin.

"A birthday present _and_ a reward on the same day?" she joked. "You're spoiling me."

"Come," he ordered, and led her to his seat.

She went to take her customary seat on his lap sideways, but he grabbed her by the waist and repositioned her so that she was straddling him, her legs on either side of his hips. A dark blush swept over her cheeks unbidden. It was the first time they had ever sat like this, and her mind couldn't help but think of just how few layers of clothing were separating them.

"The soldiers have tarnished your mind," Alucard lamented.

Her blush deepened furiously at his words and she impotently slapped his arm. "Stay out of my head, if you please."

He eyed the arm she had struck with a slightly amused look before turning back to her. His eyes were luminescent in the near dark and his teeth glinting in a leer.

His words were soft as silk. "It's poor taste to strike your benefactor, is it not?"

"Iartã-mã," she apologized, eyes wide in surprise. It was a fool's errand to strike the No-Life King. What on earth had possessed her to do such a thing?

He felt the sincerity in her words and brushed the incident off. His smile softened from the sharp leer to something warmer.

"Your body is adjusting to the power. These sorts of outbursts are unpleasant though perhaps unavoidable. Now tell me, are you thirsty?"

At the word alone the fire began burning anew in her throat. "Yes," she managed to say.

"Of course you are," he chuckled, and she saw the medical blood in his right hand. He held it out to her and when she reached for it her fingers splayed on top of his longer, gloved ones.

"Maria." She looked up immediately from the blood and into his red pools. His mirth was gone as he regarded her seriously. "You must always stay in control of your desires lest they consume you. Vampires are creatures of vice; it is our greatest weakness."

"Yes," she nodded, entirely focused on him and his words. "I will keep myself in check."

His hand slid out from under hers as he relinquished the blood packet. "That's a good girl," he praised, and gave a nod of permission.

She pulled off the cap and sat it carefully on the table beside them, her trembling fingers belying her excitement. She had never sought it more than she had tonight. She sucked on the straw and when the coppery, smoothe liquid met her tongue she let out a soft sound of ecstasy. The burn in her throat was instantaneously doused by the deluge.

Maria had been vaguely aware that Alucard's left hand had never strayed from its hold on his hip, but now she noticed that the right one was running through her curls in the same affectionate manner as before. It was a soothing thing, and she found herself wanting to reciprocate, to make him feel the contentment he had bestowed upon her.

He was staring at her with his eternally unreadable crimson gaze, but she refused to be intimidated. It was the first time she had ever attempted anything of this sort and she felt a shiver of apprehension as she raised her own hand to feel his silky black locks. Over the years, she had learned to gauge the vampire's mood by the length of his hair. The shorter and tamer it was, the calmer he was. The longer and wilder, the closer to madness he was. Currently, his hair was the slightly shaggy but well-kempt look he usually sported. Maria was amazed by the softness of his locks-it felt more like mercury flowing between her fingers than strands.

His eyes closed as he leaned into her touch slightly, and the girl gained confidence that what she was doing was allowed, welcome. She ran her fingernails lightly over his scalp as she felt his hand on her hip tighten its hold.

Growing bold, she took a sip of blood and pressed her lips against his. His mouth opened easily for her and she let him have the blood. His eyes shot open in surprise and he let out a soft sound before greedily plundering her mouth with his tongue. When he had sussed out every last drop he hissed, "Again."

She leapt to comply and when their lips met again he was demanding and ravenous, claiming her mouth as he pulled her close enough that their chests were touching. A soft moan escaped her lips at the onslaught and unconsciously she rubbed her hips against his, seeing some sort of relief from the torturous ache that was growing between her legs.

"Maria," he growled into the kiss, a warning.

She went to take another sip of blood, but snarled when she realized that it was empty. She allowed him to seize her mouth in another searing kiss, and this time she raked her tongue against one of his sharp fangs. The very instant her blood spilled he gave a sharp inhale and crushed her to him, sucking hungrily on her weeping tongue. His hips bucked against hers and she could feel his arousal rubbing against her heat.

He commanded, "Încă."

Maria fulfilled his wish by running her tongue along his fangs again, the pain mingling with the pleasure in a heady haze. His grip on her waist was sure to leave a bruise, but she couldn't have cared any less. All that mattered was pleasing him and receiving his rewards.

"Scoate-ți mănușile."

The No-Life King's words stirred the fog of pleasure, rousing her slightly. The sigils on his gloves contained the binding magic of the Hellsing family. He lacked the power to remove them, but a mortal could remove them for him if they desired to. Sir Integra had expressly forbidden her from taking off Alucard's gloves for any reason.

"Îmi pare rău, dar nu pot," she breathed.

He broke away from her, and for a split second Maria feared retribution. She was surprised when he instead began to laugh, long and deep. He raised a gloved hand to cup her cheek, grinning to reveal his reddened teeth.

"My beautiful girl," he said warmly, "you never fail to impress."

A flash of indignation ran hot through her as she realized that he had been testing her resolve this entire time. It had all been a game.

She didn't allow her displeasure to show on her features, though. She fixed him with a coy smile instead. "Thank you. Will that be all?"

He nodded, and his fingers ghosted down from her cheek to the fingers of her hand that were still clutching his vest. "Go. You're late to your lessons."

Maria fought the urge to swear, knowing that he disliked it when she used uncouth language. Perhaps the men were rubbing off on her a bit too much as of late. She extricated herself from his hold and readjusted her skirt before turning to leave.

She had nearly reached the door when he said, "You're mine. I won't permit another man to touch you."

Maria bit her lip, not entirely sure why he was telling her this right now. It was true that he had left her with no means to put out the fire burning within her, but she wasn't desperate enough that she would jump the bones of one of the men.

She gave him a nod and then left the room, sprinting up to the second floor where her tutor was waiting for her in one of the libraries. Her status as an active Hellsing operative and her nocturnal schedule made it impossible to attend school, and those factors notwithstanding she had a feeling that Alucard wouldn't have wanted her gone for that long five days out of the week anyways.

Mr. Eyes emerged from the wall to her left, her bookbag in its mouth, and immediately broke into an easy trot to keep up with her run.

"You're a lifesaver," she thanked him, taking the bag without slowing.

The taste of blood was still strong in her mouth as she rounded the final corner to the library and she wondered momentarily if it would cause problems. She was already eight minutes late; there was no time to run to the bathroom and look in the mirror.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Maria said as she opened the door. "Tonight's training was a bit-"

"Maria, are you alright?" Mr. Willows exclaimed, rising from his seat at the long wooden table. His bushy gray brows were lost in this scraggly hair, alarm all over his features.

"I-yes, what's-"

"You've got blood down your front and on your lips."

She touched her lips and looked at her fingers to see red. Her favorite tank top had also been sullied.

 _That asshole,_ she thought to herself. He had known she had blood all over her and had let her go like this.

She scrambled to set the poor man at ease. "Mr. Willows, it's perfectly fine. I bit my tongue during training and it's just a bit more blood than I thought. Nothing worry about. Please, let's do the lesson."

It took a bit more coaxing, but eventually she convinced him that she was fine and they were able to complete their lesson of world history, Latin, and literature. Normally, Alucard pestered her incessantly during her lessons, making her translate things into Romanian or Italian or correcting the teacher when it came to world history. Tonight, however, her mind was blissfully quiet. She wasn't sure if it was because he knew she was irritated with him, or whether he had something else going on. Either way, she was welcome for the reprieve.

She had just gotten her first kiss, and it had been from the No Life King Himself. Even now, she could almost taste him on her lips.

The three-hour lesson went by in a haze, and when it was over she barely remembered what they had talked about. She thanked Mr. Willows and then headed back to the dungeons, where her bed was calling to her. It was nearing five and the sun would be rising soon.

Mechanically, she went through the motions of changing into her pajamas and brushing her teeth and then sank into bed. She yelped in surprise when she landed on something way too hard and unyielding to be her mattress.

"You're much heavier than you look."

Between the time Maria had jumped and landed on the bed, none other than the Nosferatu had appeared on her bed, lying on his back with his hands behind his head. He was still wearing the same casual dress from before, but he had tacked on an irksome, amused grin.

"What are you doing in my bed?" she demanded, unable to hide her displeasure as a frown downturned her lips.

"It's almost sunrise."

"Yes, I know. That's why I'm going to go to sleep. That doesn't explain why you're here."

"I'm tired," he said simply.

The plain look he was fixing her with told Maria that he wasn't budging, and he wasn't answering any more of her questions. She wasn't sure whether it was due to the testing of her new powers or the blood loss from her tongue, but she was too exhausted to play his games.

She sighed defeatedly, "At least scoot over a bit. You're right in the middle."

He slid over to the far half of the bed and looked to her with expectant wine-red pools.

The lights turned off as she got into the bed and pulled the covers over herself and the vampire. She lie on her back beside him, and the bed was big enough that they could both lie there comfortably. Her arm was brushing against his, but that was their only contact.

She hazarded a glance his way, and in the dimness she could see that he was lying on his back, hands together on his chest. With that pose and his lack of breathing she could have mistaken him for a corpse, if not for the red of his pupils that glowed slightly. He was staring up at the ceiling as though deep in thought.

"Alucard?" she whispered.

He cast her a sideways glance.

She wasn't even sure what made her say it, but the request was tumbling from her lips. "Spune-mi o poveste, vă rog."

He snorted in disbelief. "Ești un copil?" he asked condescendingly, but when she rolled over to face him properly he went back to staring up at the ceiling. When he remained silent, Maria thought that he was just going to ignore her.

But then he spoke in the low rumble that struck fear in the hearts of men but filled Maria with ease. "Mult timp în urmă, trăia un pescar bătrân. În fiecare zi, el a aruncat plasele sale de patru ori. Nici mai mult nici mai puțin…."

The tale was of an old fisherman who cast his nets into the ocean four times each day, no more and no less. One day, the first three casts yielded no fish and he prayed to God that the last cast be successful. He pulled in the nets a fourth time and found a mysterious, heavy jar. Upon opening it, a mad genie sprang forth and said that it would bestow death upon the fisherman. The fisherman was clever, though, and tricked the genie back into the jar before tossing it back to sea.

Maria's fatigue coupled with the vampire's soothing tones made it hard to stay awake, but his voice was as relaxing as it was entrancing and she couldn't help but wriggle closer to him to better hear. When the story was over, her head was resting in the crook of his shoulder and his gloved hand resting possessively on her bare hip, as her shirt had ridden up at some point.

"A fost o poveste bună. Mulțumesc," she thanked him in a murmur.

"Du-te la culcare," was his only reply.

She followed his order nearly instantly, unable to keep her eyes open any longer.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for reading another chapter. What did you think? Comments and follows give he hope and encourage me to write more. Expect the next chapter soon!

Iartã-mã=Forgive me

Încă=More/Again

Scoate-ți mănușile=Take off my gloves

Îmi pare rău, dar nu pot=I'm sorry but I can't

Spune-mi o poveste, vă rog=Please tell me a story.

Ești un copil?=Are you a child? (I have a feeling that "child" is masculine when it should be feminine but don't know enough to be sure...)

Mult timp în urmă, trăia un pescar bătrân. În fiecare zi, el a aruncat plasele sale de patru ori. Nici mai mult nici mai puțin….=Long ago, there was an old fisherman. Each day he cast his nets four times. Never more, never less.

A fost o poveste bună. Mulțumesc=That was a good story. Thank you.

Du-te la culcare=Go to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Welcome to Chapter 3. Enjoy!

When Maria awoke, she was alone. Memories of Alucard in bed with her telling her the tale of the fisherman floated to her like smoke on a breeze, but they were so faint that she wondered if it hadn't all been a dream.

She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. It was six p.m. and she had a schedule to keep. There was no time to dawdle. Her lessons with Mr. Willows would start in two hours and she had gone to sleep that morning without doing her homework. Following that, she was to train with Seras.

A knock sounded at the door just as she pulled on a long aubergine top that hugged her curves and ended a bit past her hips. the length of the blouse made it hard to see the jean shorts she was wearing underneath. She had settled on something with a longer hem because of the five-fingered bruise she sported on her left hip. She had no problem letting the others know that they had started the ritual for her to become Alucard's queen, but for some reason she wanted to hide that it had taken a rather physical turn.

 _Having doubts?_

 _Ugh, good evening to you too,_ she thought sarcastically to the intrusive vampire. _And no, I'm not. I just don't think Sir Integra or Walter will get it. They think of me as their child, and you as my parent._

 _Ah._ For such a short utterance, it was incredible how much of his intentions Maria could glean. Mischief. Glee. Plotting.

 _Oh, no,_ she said quickly, _I want no part in whatever devious surprise you're planning for Sir Integra._

 _You're no fun,_ he pouted.

Walter had come in carrying her breakfast of eggs, toast, pancakes, and milk on a silver tray. Only this time, the milk had been replaced with a more viscous red liquid that set her throat on fire at the sight.

"Good evening, Maria," he greeted warmly, setting the tray on the table before her. "Did you sleep well?"

"Good evening. Yes, I did," she smiled as she sat down. "Walter, I see that my milk is gone."

"Ah, yes. Alucard said that you were to have a glass of blood each breakfast from here on out. How do you feel?"

Maria gave the glass a displeased look for a moment. She much prefered the drinking method Alucard had shown her the previous night.

"Good. I was tired this morning, but I feel brand new tonight."

A kind smile was on Walter's lips as he bowed. "Excellent. I'll leave you to your studies, then."

She bade him farewell and tucked into her meal, first draining the glass of every last drop and then working on the rest of her food. She blazed through her studies as well. She wasn't sure if it was natural talent or because of her slight osmosis of the No Life King's power, but she had the ability to read or hear something once and memorize it. This made her homework all incredibly easy and she finished it with a half-hour to spare.

Maria had half a mind to pester Alucard, but the other half of her worried that it would devolve into something that would make her late for her lessons a second night in a row. Also, her tongue was still sore. She chose instead to read a book on banshees that Integra had recommended her a few days ago. Though it wasn't often, Hellsing's foes weren't always vampires. Integra wanted her men as well-educated and prepared as possible against the unholy.

 _Banshees? What drivel,_ Alucard scoffed.

 _Have you fought one before?_

 _Yes. It was over so quickly I didn't even have time to feel disappointed. All you need to know about them is that wearing a wreath of laurels will make its voice tolerable, and that they can be killed by beheading._

It wasn't often that he took the time to teach her such morsels of his knowledge. She stored it away for later.

 _Thank you. ...Just how bored are you that you're talking with me about banshees?_

And just like that, he was gone from her mind. She chuckled, knowing that it irritated him when she hit on the truth so quickly.

It was nearly time for her lesson, so she packed her bag and left to head to the library. Because she had been late last night she wanted to make up for it by being extra early to tonight's lesson.

She was only a few corridors away from the library when she felt the sudden oppressive presence of the resident vampire, but he was too fast for her to evade and he shoved her ruthlessly against the wall before claiming her mouth in a brutal kiss.

Maria was so startled by the onslaught that she couldn't move for the first few moments. But then she could feel herself melting into him, her body relaxing against his cool planes as her hands reached for the lapels of his red jacket.

She hissed in pain when he nipped her lip and broke the skin, but the moment he drew her lower lip into his mouth and sucked on it she forgot all about the pain and gasped softly. She tugged on his jacket, trying to bring him even closer to her. She wanted to feel his every inch against her.

He obliged, taking her by the hips and grinding his heat against her own deliciously. Maria had forgotten all about the lesson down the hall; all she could focus on was Alucard and those hypnotic red eyes that bored into her soul.

And then he was pulling away from her, taking the pleasure and warmth with him. There was a drop of her blood on his lips, and he never broke eye contact as his tongue darted out to lick it up in an outlandishly suggestive way.

"Stay focused on your lesson," he commanded, his eyes twinkling with mirth.

Another test. Maria gritted her teeth and pushed her curls out of her face before wiping the last traces of blood from her mouth. She managed to say in a dignified tone, "Yes."

His soft chuckle echoed in the corridor even after he had vanished through the wall. Maria was veritably seething knowing that he had toyed with her twice in a row. So he wanted her to focus on the lesson? She would. She would forget his existence for the next few days and see how he felt. Two could play this game, and play she would.

She looked herself over in a mirror that happened to be a bit further down the hall. Her emerald eyes were burning with her fury, though the rest of her expression was as tranquil and sweet as usual. Her curls framed her face neatly, and her lip was red but the bleeding had stopped. She willed herself to calm down, to douse the blaze that sparkled in her gaze until she looked her normal, easy-going self. She flashed an experimental smile and her reflection grinned back, as angelic and kind as usual. Perfect.

Miraculously, she was a couple minutes early to her lesson with Mr. Willows. She took her seat and they began by discussing her homework, which as usual was impeccable. She was just talking about the effects of the Crusades on Europe when the unmistakable sensation of a long tongue dragging up her neck made her jump in alarm. Instinctually, her hand flew up to her throat but there was nothing there.

"Maria, are you alright?" Mr. Willows asked.

"Yes, just a hair," she smiled.

So _this_ was his new way to alleviate his boredom. She wasn't going to lose so easily.

Mr. Willows asked her to read a passage from the history book aloud and she did so in a calm, steady diction, even when she felt Alucard's phantom tongue dance in circles around her jugular. She put every ounce of concentration she had into focusing on the text and ignoring the way his dextrous tongue was making her feel warm and uncomfortable. She had half a mind to sever their mental connection so that he couldn't keep harassing her, but he would consider it a win if she did so. She would have to grin and bear it.

She managed to read through the entire passage without giving any outward sign that he was getting to her, though by the end he was throwing in a nip here and there that threatened to be her downfall.

Mr. Willows was absolutely oblivious to Maria's discomfort as he began lecturing about the next installment of Hamlet they were to read. She dutifully took notes in her notebook, her fingers trembling slightly as the tongue trailed to her collarbone where he left open-mouthed kisses that made her want to gasp for air.

She wasn't going to let him win this, though. She wasn't just another weak human. Even if it were just something as juvenile as making her squirm and embarrass herself, she wasn't going to let him beat her.

By the end of the three hour lesson, her legs were so weak that she wasn't sure she could stand. She managed, however, thanked Mr. Willows, and left with her satchel slung over a shoulder. She made a beeline for her room in the dungeons so she could get changed and prepare for her training with Seras, which was due to begin in about twenty minutes.

"I'm impressed," Alucard said, appearing beside her as she walked down the stairs to the dungeons.

"Thank you," she gritted out perfunctorily, not stopping.

He glided along a few paces behind her, and when she closed the door to her room behind her she thought he would take the hint to leave her alone, but he instead drifted through the solid wooden panel as though it were still wide open.

"I need to get ready to train with Seras in fifteen minutes."

"Yes, you do."

She fixed him with a long, hard look. "I need to get changed."

"Yes, you do."

His devilish grin said that he wasn't moving from his spot by the door and Maria set her shoulders back defiantly before crossing to the wardrobe and pulling out one of her Hellsing uniforms. She turned her back to him as she changed, but she could feel his red eyes burning like embers into her.

She gave him a curt nod before exiting the room, and he merely watched her go with a smile.

Maria wanted to rip it off his face.

Honestly, everything was all just some great big game to him. Their foreplay was fun and Maria enjoyed it, but she didn't enjoy being constantly left high and dry, or being thrust into potentially awkward situations. It would be one thing if she knew that he would be able to fulfil the needs he awakened in her, but they both knew that she had to remain a virgin until he had turned her. She didn't want to be in a constant state of arousal for the next five years. She'd wind up killing everyone.

Thankfully, the Nosferatu left her alone while she sparred with Seras. The fight helped her take her mind off of him and release her pent up frustrations.

"You're stronger and faster than the last time," Seras noted afterwards. They sat on a grassy hill several hundred yards from the manor, looking up at the clear, starry sky. "It's incredible what such a small amount of Master's blood can do."

Maria nodded, a subtle frown curling her lips. She didn't really want to think about him right now.

Seras had spotted her displeasure. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," she sighed. "He can be a bit of a jerk, sometimes."

The blonde vampire nodded sympathetically. "He's not all bad, though."

"No, he's not," agreed Maria. She yawned and stretched her arms above her head. "Well, thanks for the training. I've got to get a bit of this homework done before I turn in."

The two stood up and headed back to the castle in a comfortable silence. The older vampire was perhaps the only person Maria called friend. She had understood immediately why Alucard had decided to turn her. She was a sweet, innocent girl that brought out the best in the people around her.

Maria went down to her chambers and took a quick shower to wash away the sweat and dirt she had accumulated during her training with Seras, and then changed into her pajamas of a loose t-shirt and cotton shorts. The bruise on her hip served as a reminder of the previous night's activities and she blushed at the thought. She wondered when she'd have an opportunity to kiss him like that again, but then shook her head and told herself that she was in a battle of wills with the vampire, and she wasn't going to lose just because he was really, really kissable.

The shower and sparring had helped cool her mind off and she was able to get most of her studies done by five, when the sun was just about to rise. She yawned, stretching her arms up as high as they would go before forcing her heavy eyes to focus on the pages of Hamlet before her. She had to finish reading and analyzing this act for tomorrow night's lesson.

"It's early. Come to bed."

Maria had felt the No Life King's presence behind her on her bed for the past few minutes, but she had been steadfastly pretending he didn't exist.

"I want to finish this first," she said. "I'm almost done."

"It's too bright to sleep."

Maria found herself wondering why he didn't just go sleep in his own dark room if it bothered him so, but continued writing in silence.

She could feel his irritation building like static electricity in the air and the lights began to dim.

She looked up from her work and to him. He was lying on her bed as if he owned it, in his casual clothes. His expression was cool, but there was a slight knot between his brow that told her he wasn't pleased.

"Ten more minutes," she compromised. "Ten more minutes and then I'll go to bed."

He gave her a long-suffering look but the lights returned to their usual brightness.

"Mulțumesc," she thanked him, and then returned to hurriedly writing her analysis of the text.

She had never written so fast in her life, but she managed to finish her homework with a couple minutes to spare. The moment she sat down her pencil, the room went dark. She could make out Alucard's outline on the bed, still in the middle of it as he had been the night before. She crawled into bed with him, sidling up against him as he took up too much space for her to avoid touching him.

"Could you move a bit?" she asked presently. "I'm about to fall off the bed."

His reply was to wrap an arm around her and place his hand firmly on her hip.

A sigh escaped the girl's lips. She was supposed to be repelling him, but she couldn't kick him out of the bed or even shove him. All she could do was rest her head in the crook of his shoulder like she had the night before.

"Ask your question," he muttered. "Your agitation is keeping me awake."

She had been debating asking him, but now she had no choice. "Why are you here again?"

He opened one eye to stare at her blankly. "Would you rather me gone?"

"No. I'm just confused by all of this."

"What is there to be confused by? You are mine to lie with if I choose."

"And if I asked you to leave?"

He frowned. "I would leave."

She exhaled a breath she hadn't been aware of keeping in. She understood that he was her king, but she also needed a modicum of control. He understood this about her, and was willing to give it to her even if he was reluctant.

Maria rested a hand on his chest and relaxed further against him. "Please don't go."

He stayed precisely where he was, inhumanly still. The only sound in the room was the girl's soft, steady breaths.

"You're not going to ask for a bedtime story?" he asked presently, a hint of a tease in his tone.

She was just on the edge of sleep and her reply came out as a murmur. "I made you wait ten minutes to go to sleep. I won't prolong your rest any longer tonight."

"Hn."

"Tomorrow's story should be twice as long to make up for it, though."

Maria peeked up to see him giving her an imperious glare, but she just laughed softly before drifting off.

* * *

"Get up."

Maria awoke the moment Alucard spoke. He stood beside the bed, looking down on her. He was fully dressed, complete with hat and red glasses.

"A mission?" she asked.

"Yes. Get changed. The soldiers are already on the way to the scene."

"What?" She leapt out of bed and rushed to get dressed, not even caring that the vampire was watching her every move with a hungry look. "They've already left? Why wasn't I told sooner?"

"The soldiers are engaging the ghouls. You and I will be engaging the hosts."

Maria paused wrangling her curls into a ponytail to stare at him in surprise. If Alucard was sent on a mission, it was usually solo. Any soldiers who went with him usually didn't make it back anyways. It had been a couple years since she had been assigned to work with him on a mission; she was almost always in infantry with Seras.

Fully dressed in the yellow Hellsing uniform, her top unbuttoned to reveal a black tanktop and allow quick access to the Derringer she had inside her bra, she slid her fire-opal semi-auto into its holster on her left hip.

When she looked up to Alucard, she was surprised that he held a bag of medical blood out to her. "You'll need energy," he said simply, and she drank it down quickly.

Preparations complete, the No Life King grabbed her arm and his shadows swallowed them. Maria's world turned black and she felt an odd tingling, pulling sensation on all of her limbs for a split second until they appeared on a sidewalk of what was probably a quiet, picturesque suburb. The silent night was rent by the sounds of gunfire and soldiers' commands. They were only a couple blocks away, fighting against an unbelievably large horde of ghouls. Maria estimated there were nearly eighty.

"A coven?" she asked.

"Yes. Eight vampires."

The most she had ever fought at one time with Alucard had been three. This was a big step up, and she gulped down the hint of fear that threatened to rise, then steeled herself. These vampires would be weak and idiotic small fry, easy to pick off.

She pulled her gun out of its holster and cocked it, ready for whatever may come. Her senses were sharp, but nowhere near as sharp as the Nosferatu by her side. If one of the vampires was particularly fast, they may be able to grab her before she could unholster her weapon.

Alucard stalked towards an altogether normal two-story house that fit in perfectly with the rest of the cookie-cutter homes. Truly, if not for the sounds of conflagration a couple blocks away, Maria would have thought there had been a mistake.

The brief set of stairs up to the door were narrow and she was forced to walk behind him. He grabbed her by the wrist and they drifted through the closed door and into the house without making a single sound.

The inside of the house looked just like any other. The usual signs of vampires, like victims, blood, or ghouls were nowhere to be seen. In fact, Maria couldn't even sense the presence of anyone other than themselves.

 _I don't sense anything here,_ she said through their mental connection.

 _You still have a long way to go, then. Three are upstairs and five in the basement._

She gritted her teeth, irked that she had been unable to locate them.

 _I'm heading to the basement. You handle the trash on the second floor._

 _By myself?_ Maria had only fought a vampire one-on-one once, and it had nearly ended in her death. It had pounced on her prepared to rip out her throat, but she had been saved by the silver blade she had hidden up her sleeve that she had used to cut off its head in a burst of fear and adrenaline. She remembered how it had sputtered and gurgled as blood rained down upon her like a filthy rain.

 _Scared?_ His voice dripped with mirth.

She was. But she gave him a resolute look, a nod of farewell, and then she headed to the stairway on her right while he went to the kitchen where the stairs to the basement were located. She concentrated on Alucard's power within her, focused it to her third eye and a thrill shot through her when her dim surroundings seemed to brighten. Faintly, she could sense a prickling chill in the air that emanated from one of the rooms upstairs. She took to the steps, her shadows coming to life to cushion her footfalls, making her movements just as soundless as Alucard's. She took the Derringer out of her bra and readied it as well. The stairs opened on a short hallway that connected four rooms. The odd feeling that set the hair on the back of her neck on edge was coming from two of the rooms. Two vampires were in the room directly to her right, and one at the end of the hall.

Maria took a breath and willed her shadow to envelop her to act as a protective shroud in case the hosts had guns. As ready as she could get, she kicked the flimsy wooden door in and instantly opened fire on the two vampires who were on the bed in the middle of a very intimate act. The man and woman hardly had time to look at her before she was shooting at them. They snarled, but Maria's bullets seldom missed and tonight was no exception. They were reduced to dust before they could stand.

She sensed the third one rushing towards her from behind and spun around to meet him, but this one was much faster than her reflexes and his punch hit her squarely in the chest, cracking her sternum and sending her flying into the far wall.

It was only through her extensive practice with Alucard and Seras that she was able to maintain her hold on her guns. It was excruciatingly difficult to breathe and she surmised that her left lung had been punctured or had collapsed.

 _You were right. I still have a long way to go,_ she laughed to Alucard.

"You Hellsing bitch!" the vampire snarled. He was a handsome blonde man, but his rage had contorted his face into something that more resembled a wolf than a man as he stalked toward her.

"Yeah, yeah," she gasped, grinning. "You better hurry up and let me kill you. I'm the merciful one."

"What the fuck are you talking about? I'm going to drain every drop of blood from you in the most painful way possible."

Maria would have chuckled, but it was too painful. She just raised her gun to take aim, but the vampire surprised her again with its speed and batted the gun out of her hand. It skidded across the floor and stopped well out of her reach.

He was close enough to her now that she could see herself reflected in his red irises. Sweat was dripping down her brow from the exertion required to keep breathing but she otherwise looked fine. She was weaponless, however, and Alucard wasn't replying to her. Perhaps he was still engaged with the other five.

The blonde grabbed Maria by her long curls and picked her off the floor as though she were a mere bag of trash. His fangs were extending, peeking out of his mouth and curving down his bottom lip.

Before, she would have been panicking. This would spell the death of any other mortal.

But she wasn't just any mortal.

Grinning, she focused on her shadow and bent it to her will. It swirled up her body to her head, where it leapt onto the vampire's arm and slithered up it like a snake. Alarmed, he dropped her and attempted to shake it off, but there was no getting rid of it. It seeped into his nostril and he froze before letting out an ear-splitting, inhuman screech. Blood was pouring from his eyes like tears as he began to tear at the spot above his heart, ripping into his own flesh with mad intent.

"Make it stop! Make it stop!" he screamed.

Maria could only watch in dread curiosity as he finally broke through muscle and bone and wrenched out his own heart, which was covered in her parasitic shadow. His agonized scream faded as he turned to dust, the lump of tissue still in his hands.

" _You're_ the merciful one?"

Alucard was standing in the doorway, looking absolutely no different from before. He was fixing her with a delighted smile.

She gave him a relieved grin and held out a hand to him. He crossed the room in a single step and grabbed her hand to pull her to her feet. In his other hand he held both of her guns that the vampire had flung away. She pocketed both with trembling hands and then fell against his chest, gasping for air. Black spots were floating in the air around her and growing larger each time she blinked.

"Can't breathe," she choked out.

His shadows were already wrapping around them as he picked her up to carry her bridal style.

"Pathetic," he said, though there was no bite.

* * *

"You almost let her get killed!"

"She was perfectly fine on her own. It's only some broken bones and a punctured lung. She'll be healed in a week."

"Alucard, a human can't heal from those sorts of wounds in a week. She'll be in bed for at least a week and out of action for a month."

"Nonsense."

Maria's eyes fluttered open to see that she was in her room on her bed, an IV hooked to her arm. Sir Integra and Alucard were bickering at the foot of her bed. It felt like she had been charged by a bull and her chest ached, but she was otherwise fine.

Alucard looked over to her the moment she awoke, their mental connection making him acutely aware. His expression was as stoic as ever, but Maria thought that she could see a flash of concern in his crimson eyes.

"Maria, how do you feel?" Sir Integra demanded.

She tried to sit up, but her chest hurt too much and she lay back down quickly. "Sore, but fine. How long was I unconscious?"

"Twelve hours."

She looked up at the vampire who was watching their exchange with a bored expression. It was nearing nine a.m. She was surprised that he would stay awake so long.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you," the girl apologized. "The third vampire was quicker than I could move and I couldn't evade his attack."

"Never mind that," the woman said brusquely, turning to Alucard with a frown. "I told you it was too soon for this sort of mission, ritual or no. I was right."

A scowl twisted his brow briefly before he smoothed it back into a careful mask of apathy. "She was injured but she was never in danger of dying."

Integra looked like she wanted to shoot her servant but thought better of it. "Bedrest for a week. Off duty for a month. That's an order."

Incredibly disappointed at her words, Maria just nodded. "Yes, sir."

"And you-" She rounded on Alucard, who was staring boredly at her. "You are not to do anything that will hinder her recovery. That's an order."

He gave a half bow. "My Master."

The Hellsing heiress was already heading out the door. "Ring for Walter if you need anything."

The door clicked shut behind her and Maria could hear her receding footsteps in the ringing silence. Alucard simply stood there staring at her impassively.

"You must be tired," she said presently. "I'm okay, really."

When he didn't move for a few moments Maria began to feel a bit uncomfortable. She attempted to reach out through their mental connection, but she felt her tendrils of consciousness hit a wall.

"Whatever it is that's bothering you, why don't you think about it lying down?" She patted the empty space on the bed beside her. "You might have to shove me to the side a bit, though."

He moved just the slightest bit towards her, but then froze infinitesimally before his clothes changed into his casual wear. Maria could hardly believe her eyes, but it almost looked like the No-Life King himself had hesitated. Even in the heat of battle, he was nothing but collected and confident. Either he was exhausted or he was truly debating something.

With a gentleness that took her aback he scooted her to the side of the bed and then lie down beside her on his back, arms folded across his chest. He was still staring at her with that unreadable look.

"It's just like that time I jumped off the balcony," she said quietly. "I broke my arm, but you broke my fall."

A flicker of mirth flashed in his eyes at the memory. "Both times you were foolish."

She nodded, a small smile on her lips. "The way I killed that vampire was awesome, though."

"It was creative," he conceded.

The lights dimmed and all Maria could she were Alucard's eyes as he continued to gaze at her.

"I don't know if I can fall asleep again," she said. "I'm wide awake."

" _Sleep."_ Alucard's wine-red pools had suddenly become oceans and as she looked into them she fell into them and the lulling waves. Her eyelids drooped as an all-encompassing exhaustion took over her, and in only a few moments she was asleep.

 **A/N:** Reviews make me awfully happy. I should have the next chapter up before long. Maybe faster if I get a couple review or follows. :)


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Welcome back. Today we get to see how big of a douche Alucard can be. Enjoy.

* * *

A month passed by slowly for Maria. True to her word, Sir Integra had made sure that Maria didn't leave her room for an entire week, and after that she was forbidden from leaving the castle or participating in any training. Her lessons with Mr. Willows were now being conducted in her room so she wouldn't have to take the stairs, even though she insisted that she was fine.

Alucard had alternated between being insufferable and aloof, and sometimes insufferably aloof. There were only two things constant about him: he had ceased all of their more physical activities, and each morning he would join her in bed.

Maria thought she was going to go mad from the lack of action. Seras had come to visit a few times and the two of them had movie nights until the sun rose and Alucard kicked the Draculina out of Maria's room, but those nights had been the highlight of the entire month. She had never gone so long without shooting or fighting anything.

She woke up slowly around six p.m. to an empty room. Though she had been sharing her bed with Alucard every day for the past month, she still had yet to rise before him or watch him sleep. Her chest was still tender, but the doctor had assured her that it was all but healed and she could resume her usual activities in two more days. Knowing that she would be able to train with the men again tomorrow filled her with relief.

Maria took a leisurely shower in the private bathroom that adjoined her room and emerged clad in just a plush yellow towel. Recently, Alucard had taken to visiting her later in the evening. Figuring she was safe, she took off the towel to wrap around her long head of curls as she rummaged in her wardrobe for an outfit.

She had only been naked for a few moments when she felt Alucard's presence surge behind her and she hastened to rip the towel off her head and around her torso.

"I would really appreciate it if you won't just appear in here when you know I'm changing," she huffed.

"Perhaps you should tell me when you're going to change, then." Though the night had only begun, he was in the casual clothes he usually slept in.

"Then you'd come for sure," she accused.

His grin was nigh predatory, his fangs catching in the light as he took a step toward her. "It's been a month. It's time to continue the ritual."

At his words, the memory of his lips on hers came rushing back to her and a blush colored her cheeks as a flash of arousal flared within her. She had been eagerly awaiting this night.

He grabbed her by the chin, a roguish smirk on his lips. "Your pulse quickens when I touch you," he breathed against her neck. "I'll miss it when your heart stops."

She shivered when he left an open-mouthed kiss over her carotid, nibbling lightly enough that he just avoided breaking the skin.

"J-just let me get dressed," she managed to say.

She went to turn around and grab something-anything-from the dresser, but he flatout ignored her words and pulled her by the arm to the bed despite her weak protests. He sat down on the bed, his legs splayed so that she could stand between them. He tugged lightly on the hem of the towel, but she had wrapped her arms around her chest tightly and refused to let go. Her cheeks were beet red as he stared up at her expectantly.

She objected, "You're covered head to foot in clothing."

"This century and its women…" he muttered, looking irritated as he unfastened the buttons of his white dress shirt with long, nimble fingers.

Maria could only watch with her mouth hanging slightly open as bit by bit his pale, muscular body was revealed to her. She had never seen him bother to physically undress; he always used his powers. She had also never seen such a large swath of his bare skin. He pulled the shirt off and dropped it to the stone floor where it faded into a black shadow that slinked under the bed, and then he looked up to her with his hungry crimson gaze.

She was still uneasy; he still had his black slacks on and all she had was one piece of cotton. Once it was gone, she would be entirely revealed to him.

He could sense her unease and though it undoubtedly displeased him, he gave her a sultry smirk. "Where would you drink from tonight?"

"I can choose?"

He nodded and held out his arms for show. "Anywhere you like."

Maria's breath hitched at the thought and her eyes traced a line down his flawless chest and to his bellybutton, where a thin trail of black hair made a path down into his pants to-

"Choose."

She was jerked out of her filthy thoughts by his order and she considered for a bit before saying, "Your neck, please."

"Very well." He dragged a suddenly clawed finger against the left side of his neck and Maria watched in fascination as his deep red blood began to drip down to his collarbone. A fire was burning in her throat at the sight and smell. "Drink," he commanded.

Maria had closed the distance between them before his words had completely fallen from his lips. She had to bend over slightly to reach his neck, and she was trembling the slightest bit as she extended her tongue to catch a drop that was trailing down his chest.

The irresistible taste of Alucard and his power overwhelmed her, and she instantly forgot everything but him and the need to lick up every last droplet he would give her. She had to touch him, to feel him against her, and in her haste she let go of the towel around her to grab hold of his shoulders. It pooled at her feet as she licked up his pectoral, taking in every last bit of his essence.

Finally reaching the source of this liquid pleasure, Maria sucked and licked in earnest at his neck, her eyes closed in bliss. His strong hands on her bare hips pulled her flush against him and she gasped as her sensitive nipples met his cool, broad chest.

He let out a dark chuckle. "Faster. Your heart can beat faster."

And then he was leaning back onto the bed, pulling her with him. Too desperate for more of his blood, she went along without a fuss even though this meant that she was now lying on top of him. He ignited her, but his chilled body cooled her down. The rush of power from the blood and from the fact that the great Nosferatu himself was letting her do these things made her so exhilarated that she thought she might be borne away, and she clutched desperately to him with one hand in his shaggy black hair and another on his chest. His hands roved her body, squeezing her ass and eliciting a soft moan from her.

Eventually, the flow of blood became a trickle and Maria lamented its loss.

She detached herself from his neck and looked down at him pleadingly. "Please, give me more," she begged.

One of his hands was in her hair, pulling her face to his as desire and mischief glinted in his eyes.

"It's my turn now," he growled, and then he claimed her mouth in a powerful, ravenous frenzy that she struggled to return in kind. He nipped her tongue and then groaned when her blood mingled with his in her mouth.

The ache within her burned so strongly it was near agony. Maria ground her hips down against his and was rewarded when he bit her tongue again as he rolled them over so that he was on top of her.

Looking up at him and his covetous crimson gaze, Maria realized that most people would be terrified to have this monster bearing down upon them, but she couldn't have been any more at ease. In fact, she grinned up at him before stealing his lips in a fast and demanding kiss that he immediately returned.

He broke the kiss eventually, and as Maria fought to regain her breath she envied the No Life King, who didn't have to worry about petty things like respiration.

He must have picked up on her jealous thoughts because a gloating smirk flashed across his lips before he began leaving a trail of nips and licks down her neck and to her breast. Maria gasped as his lithe tongue swirled around her pert nipple and her hands wove through his hair desperately.

The vampire took his time playing with her breasts until she was writhing and moaning beneath him about to go mad from her desire, and then he finally began to lick and suck his way down at a torturous pace.

He had just dipped his tongue into her belly button when they both froze. Footsteps were coming down the hallway, likely Walter with her breakfast.

Maria had expected him to vanish and leave her scrambling to dash into the bathroom and hide, but a positively evil grin curved his lips.

She knew him too well, and she knew that only one thing came after that smile: unbridled chaos.

"Alucard, n-"

But he had pounced upon her, branding her with his tongue as he traveled further and further south until he was staring up at her from between her legs. She had never been wetter; she had never wanted anything more than she wanted this, but not when someone was going to come through that door in less than fifteen seconds!

"Please don't," she whispered, emerald eyes wide in horror.

He dragged his tongue up her womanhood, finishing with a swirl around her engorged clit. A hiss of pleasure managed to escape her lips despite her best efforts.

"Delicious," Alucard praised. "Your heart is beating so fast now. You like this."

"No, it's called panic. What with how you terrify any mortal, you should be more familiar with it."

He gave her a fanged smirk and dove back down. He assaulted her with his devilish tongue and she found herself clenching the sheets and clenching her jaw to keep in her cries of pleasure. The footsteps were still drawing closer-they would be knocking on the door at any moment now, and the thought filled Maria with a bolt of excitement and mortification.

When Alucard took her clit in his mouth and sucked on it, the spring of pleasure that had been growing tighter and tighter finally snapped loose, and a sob of ecstasy escaped her lips as she was carried off in a sea of rapturous relief.

It was at that precise moment that there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Alucard commanded, his words impossibly normal even though he was still lapping up her juices as her legs trembled.

Maria tried to open her mouth to tell the guest to turn back, but the vampire had somehow silenced her. She couldn't muster even the tiniest squeak.

The door creaked open and in stepped Walter, perhaps the absolute last person Maria would have chosen to see this. His eyes immediately fell upon the two of them, Alucard with his head still between her legs and Maria completely nude and embarrassed enough to die.

"Good eve-What in the Queen's name are you doing?"

The elderly butler nearly dropped the silver breakfast tray, pure shock on his features as he looked in the opposite direction to conserve the last few tatters of dignity Maria had left.

"Leave the food on the table," Alucard said in an infuriatingly blase tone, "and tell the teacher that she will be late to her lessons."

"Alucard, you can't-does Maria-"

The ancient vampire fixed Walter with a hard stare. "She is mine to do with as I please. Besides," he threw the girl in question a smug wink, "she was the one who instigated it."

 _I didn't instigate you letting Walter see this!_ she yelled through their mental connection, since he still wasn't magnanimous enough to let her speak again.

Walter looked like he wanted to say something else, but when he opened his mouth Alucard just gave him a cold look that would make a lesser man piss himself.

"That will be all, Walter."

"Y-yes. I'll take my leave, then." Obviously still shaken, he hurriedly put the tray on the table and gave a curt bow before leaving and closing the door behind him.

"Now, where were we?" Alucard said with a languid smile.

But Maria sat up and scooted away from him, tucking her legs beneath her. He had bestowed upon her the gift of speech, and she spat out her next words. "I didn't appreciate that."

"You seemed to be appreciating it until just a few moments ago." Alucard was still lying on his stomach, staring up at her in a nonplussed fashion.

"Yes, I _was_ appreciating it until you purposefully let Walter see it. Do you have any idea how mortifying that was for me? And Walter? The man changed my diapers for Christ's sake."

The Nosferatu frowned slightly, but said nothing.

The two of them sat there in an awkward silence, Maria too angry and Alucard too stubborn to say anything.

 _ALUCARD!_

Maria jumped in surprise as she heard Sir Integra's enraged yell as though it had been in her ear.

The vampire laughed as his shadows pulled him into the bed and to his summons.

"Aren't you going to get dressed?" Maria demanded.

"And deny my master the viewing pleasure? I think not."

As he vanished into the bed with that infuriatingly gloating grin, Maria vowed that if Sir Integra didn't shoot the vampire, she would when he returned to her. She had never been so humiliated in her entire life, and he had done it all just for a laugh!

She threw herself off the bed and headed to the shower, seizing a slice of toast from the platter and eating it viciously. She made the shower as hot as she could stand and scrubbed off every last bit of sweat and Alucard's scent on her, until her skin was red and her fingers pruney. Even then, it still wasn't enough because she could feel a tendril of his consciousness in hers, and his power was coursing through her veins stronger than before. They were inexorably tied together now.

She still had a smidgen of studying to do before her lesson, but she was so angry that she knew she wouldn't be able to focus on anything paper unless it was a target, so she threw on her Hellsing uniform and holstered her gun before veritably stalking out of her room and to the shooting range.

"Maria! You're back on duty, are you?" A couple soldiers who were heading into the manor greeted her warmly.

"Not 'til tomorrow," she said tersely.

Maria jumped when his thoughts came in loud and clear in her mind, as though he had said them aloud. Apparently, she had gained telepathy. _Holy shit, she looks pissed. Like that time Stevens gave her shit about the vampire and she put him in the hospital for a month._

Anyone who had been with the Hellsing organization for a decent amount of time knew that when Maria had that look in her eye, it was best to keep their distance. It was the same icy fury that the No Life King displayed before he smote something. They offered her a hasty farewell.

There were a few more men at the shooting range and they all went to welcome her, but upon seeing her countenance swiftly backed down and went back to their training. The lively chatter had died upon her arrival.

Maria didn't care about any of that. On the contrary, she was glad that they had stopped their incessant banter so that she could focus on the one thing that mattered that moment: blasting away every last shred of the paper target while she imagined Alucard's face on it.

With the fluid ease of a veteran soldier she loaded the clip with regular bullets and took a practiced stance before the target. Normally, she would use her third eye to aim as it allowed her even greater accuracy, but this time she wanted to rely only on her human self. She squeezed her right eye shut, aimed for the paper target's forehead, and fired. The bullet blew a massive hole in between its eyes and a satisfied sigh escaped her lips as she smiled and fired again and again and again, until she had emptied the entire clip and the paper was in tatters. She merely reached for another full clip on the table beside her, reloaded, and began firing anew. With each ignition of gunpowder, she could feel the tightly coiled spring of rage within her lessen.

She sensed Seras approaching her, but didn't stop unloading her clip on the target.

"He's a total jerk," the Draculina said, resting a sympathetic hand on the girl's shoulder. She was the only member of Hellsing that dared near her when she was in such a state.

"That doesn't even begin to cover it," Maria snarled. "How much do you know?"

"I...kinda heard from Walter."

Hearing the kind butler's name made the horrid scene flash through her mind and her rage flared again. "I've never been so mortified in my entire life. I told him not to, and he silenced me so I couldn't tell Walter not to enter! He's the biggest bastard I've ever met! If he shows his face to me, I'll shoot him right in that pompous smile of his!"

Seras put her hand on Maria's wrist and forced her to put the gun down. Maria was so furious her fists were trembling as she stared at her boots. She couldn't stand to look her friend in the eye.

"Maria," she said quietly, "I can only imagine how humiliating that must have been. Master Alucard has no sense of shame or remorse, so I'm certain he has no idea how upset you are. I can try to make him understand, though. And Walter doesn't think poorly of you at all. Everyone knew that as his eventual queen, these sorts of things would happen."

"What about Sir Integra? Or if the men find out? Jesus, I'd never live it down."

"I can't speak for Sir, but she's not an idiot. She knew it was bound to happen. And as for the men-" She gave Maria a fanged grin. "-you and I will take care of anyone who says anything."

Maria looked up to her with gratitude. "You're a good friend. I'm still putting a bullet between his eyes if I see him tonight, though."

Seras laughed and patted her friend on the shoulder. "C'mon. Guns can't really do much to make you feel better. Let's spar for a bit, see if you've gotten any stronger."

The blonde always knew how to cheer her up and take her mind off things. A glad smile flitted across her lips as she holstered her gun and followed her friend out to a grassy knoll where they would have plenty of space to romp around without damaging anything. It was far enough from the rest of the men that they wouldn't have any spectators either.

Seras assumed a defensive stance while Maria took an offensive one. They stared at each other for a few moments before the brunette lunged at her friend at a speed quite astonishing for a mortal. She threw a punch at Seras' stomach, but the Draculina read her moves and swept her fist aside before aiming a kick at Maria's side. Maria was able to foresee this, however, and swirled out of reach.

Seras had the superhuman strength all Undead possessed, but she was purposefully careful not to use it when sparring with Maria. Other than that, she didn't hold back in any way and Maria appreciated it immensely. While it meant that she nine times out of ten would lose to Seras, she always gained valuable experience from it.

This time, though, it seemed as though the Draculina was taking it easy on her. Her moves were so much easier to read that even with her opponent's inhuman speed, Maria was able to block, evade, and even get in a countermove.

"I'm gonna be pissed if you're taking pity on me," she said as she crouched low to avoid a kick to the chest.

"I'm not!" Seras exclaimed as she narrowly avoided Maria's right hook. "You're reading my moves. Can you read minds now?"

"I think so. I don't know how to turn it on or off yet, though."

"You're going to be stronger than me in no time at this rate," Seras lamented as the threw a punch that Maria caught.

Her curls bounced about wildly as she backflipped out of Seras' reach. "If you'd only drink, you wouldn't have to worry about it."

"Ugh, not you too."

Maria just laughed as she grabbed her friend by the arm and threw her to the ground. Seras landed with a hard thud and Maria pounced on her, straddling her hips and pinning her arms down to the ground.

The two of them dissolved into giggles as Maria rolled off and lay down beside her.

"Feel better?" Seras asked once their laughter subsided.

Maria flashed her a grin. "Quite."

"Good, because I think our immortal jerk is coming."

Sure enough, Alucard's dark presence billowed into existence and he appeared from behind a nearby tree. "What was that, police girl?"

She let out a squeak of fear and leapt to her feet. "Nothing, Master! Look at Stevens over there, not properly dismantling his firearm!" And she dashed off at top speed to the shooting range.

Maria felt distinctly betrayed by her best friend, but shrugged it off and forced herself to look at the now fully-clothed vampire before her. She fingered the gun holstered at her hip contemplatively.

"Planning to shoot me?" he asked casually.

"I'm thinking about it."

He seemed unmoved by her murderous intent. In fact, he took a few steps closer to her, an air of aloof amusement about him.

"Master was quite displeased with our display-" Maria visibly bristled at his use of "our," and a grin broke across his lips at the sight of her rekindled anger. "-and has given you permission to shoot me once."

She would have to thank Sir Integra later tonight. Alucard spread his arms wide open and looked to her expectantly, but as he watched him do so a wicked idea came into her mind.

"I'm not going to do it now," Maria said with a saccharine smile. "I'm going to wait until you're not expecting it."

He lowered his arms. " _You_ are planning to catch _me_ off guard?"

Maria crossed her arms and gave him a defiant look. "It won't be today or tomorrow, but it will happen."

Chuckling, he came to stand beside her and look over the field to the training grounds with her. "I had always pegged you as more of a realist that this, but do as you please."

"If Sir Integra hadn't ordered you to let me shoot you, would you still let me?"

His gaze turned cold. "Of course not."

Maria sighed. Most of the time, she could imagine that the No Life King was an aloof but not uncaring being. But at times like this, the reality that he ruled all with an iron fist was painfully clear. She had a profound sense of reverence for him, as there was no one else in the world who commanded such intellect or power, but she also feared him. This was a monster who masqueraded as man, who could massacre the strongest of mortals with the same effort it took to step on an ant.

Once in a blue moon, Maria wondered if she was truly ready to become his Queen and to stay with him until the end of time, knowing that she would be under his thumb until the very end. She was obedient and of course wanted to follow Alucard, but she was also strong-willed and prideful. He had taught her never to allow someone to disrespect her and she had taken the lesson to heart-she yearned to give him a taste of revenge for what he had done to her earlier, but he would never in a million years let her.

Her rage was gone now, blown away by a dreary gust of doubt.

She looked to her watch. It was nearing nine p.m. and she didn't want to keep Mr. Willows waiting any longer. Without bothering to cast the vampire a glance she turned and headed back to the manor. He stayed on the hill, watching her receding figure in silence.

At the threshold of the manor were two guards who opened the door for her. The thoughts of the one to her left welled up in her mind as she crossed them.

 _Looks like she and Alucard are at it. Wonder what he did to piss her off…_

Maria rolled her eyes. She had enough things on her mind as it was; she didn't need other people's thoughts further filling her head.

Back in her room, she sullenly ate her thoroughly cold meal, steadfastly avoiding looking at the bed where she had been humiliated. To keep the doubts that swirled about her at bay she thought of her lesson with Mr. Willows and about the Periodic Table, over which she was to have a test tonight.

Mr. Willows was pleased to see her and rose from his seat in the library to greet her. He seemed to be unaware of the cause of her tardiness, and Maria was grateful that at least one person she cared about didn't know. They carried on the lesson in the usual fashion, and for a spell she was able to forget about everything outside of the room.

Until she was midway through her test on the elements and the bane of her existence made its presence known in her mind.

 _You're angry,_ Alucard stated.

 _I'm concentrating. I'm taking a test,_ she avoided.

 _You could complete that test in your sleep. Now speak. Why are you angry?_

Maria gritted her teeth as she continued to fill in each element's name and characteristics. She contemplated ignoring him, but she could feel a throbbing tendril of his energy in her mind and she knew that if she did so, he would only appear in this room and demand his answers.

She let out a long breath of air and collected herself. _I'm angry because you purposefully embarrassed me after I made it very clear that I didn't want you to do that. What made it embarrassing? Because what we were doing was a very private act-not to mention my first time-and who should see it but one of the people I consider my family._

Alucard was quiet for a moment. His next words were neither an insult nor a compliment. _You are still a child._

 _Yes, well, you are half a millennium older than I am._ Maria didn't know what to make of his comment.

 _It isn't my wish to cause you displeasure._

Maria moved on to the second part of the exam, mapping the electrons for each element. Her pencil paused on the paper momentarily at Alucard's soft admission. She knew that those words were the closest thing to an apology that she could ever hope to get from the vampire.

 _I know,_ she acknowledged, _but you forget that I'm still a young mortal. I'm not your queen yet._

 _Yet,_ he agreed in a whisper. _The world will tremble to behold us._

A shiver of excitement passed through the girl at his promise.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, what do you think? Is Alucard a total bastard? It's a struggle to keep him in character, but I do try my hardest. I'd love to hear your opinions on what you think about my portrayal of him. Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Chapter 5, in which we meet another one of my favorite characters. Enjoy!

* * *

Alucard left her mind, allowing her to put her full attention back on the test. Once it was finished they moved on to math and then biology. She bade Mr. Willows a good evening and then returned to her chambers, where she dutifully completed her homework in quiet.

She still felt a pang of mortification when she looked at the bed, but her rage had melted into the ether. Maria knew that Alucard would never apologize for anything and she had come to terms with that. His words to her had been sufficient. She knew now that he hadn't meant to upset her, and that he sometimes forgot just how human and sentimental she still was. He was coming to terms with her just as she was with him.

She was still going to shoot him, though.

"Hell hath no fury," Alucard smirked, appearing to sit on her bed fully dressed.

Maria shot him a small smile. "You haven't scorned me, have you?"

"Not yet, no."

She went back to her studies while he withdrew a book from some pocket of his red coat. As he reclined to lie on the bed his clothes changed into his casual white blouse and black slacks.

"What are you reading?" she asked as she continued plugging away at her chemistry homework.

"Read my mind and find out for yourself. You gained telepathy tonight, after all."

"How'd you know?"

"You heard my master's summons," he said matter-of-factly, turning a page in his book.

Maria closed her notebook and set down her pencil before turning in her chair to face the vampire directly, her emerald eyes eager. "How do I do it?"

Alucard shot her a nonplussed look. "You're not worthy of becoming my queen if you can't figure out such a simple thing on your own."

The curly-haired brunette frowned. Seras had been a vampire for six years now, yet she still hadn't figured out how to do it. Maria had nowhere near the power she did-how could she hope to be capable of controlling this power?

"The Police Girl is weak and refuses to embrace the night, unlike you. Now focus."

Maria closed her eyes and took a deep breath, focusing on Alucard's dark power swirling through her veins. She willed it to her third eye, but all this allowed her to do was see through the walls of her chambers and into the adjoining rooms. Alucard smirked in a rather condescending fashion as he turned another page.

She tried again, this time sending the dark energy to her ears. She flinched at the sudden cacophony of life in the manor. The clatter of pots and pans being washed in the kitchens, the footfalls of men making their way here and there, the rush of running water as someone took a shower, the pounding of a hundred heartbeats-all of these sounds and more threatened to overwhelm her and she swiftly called off her energy.

Alucard chuckled at her obvious discomfort.

Pursing her lips, Maria carefully considered what other options she had. If the key to telepathy wasn't in her third eye or ears, it would have to come from something external. Something she could use to physically touch her target.

"Hn." Alucard sounded mildly pleased as he continued reading.

Taking this as a sign that she was headed in the right direction, she stood up and moved to close the distance between the two of them, her hand outstretched.

The vampire gave her an amused glance. "Don't touch me. That's the simpleton's way."

Maria sighed and sat back down, thinking hard. Then, as an idea struck her she smiled, "So I can't touch you with my body…"

Her shadow extended a vine that crawled up the bed and fell over his arm.

… _And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, "I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created-people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them._

Maria gasped as Alucard's dulcet tones came in loud and clear in her mind, as if he were speaking to her. She then hissed as the Scripture burned as though her head had been wrapped in a wreath of fire.

"Why are you reading the Bible?" she demanded as he laughed.

"I wanted to see how you would react to it," he explained as he closed the cursed tome. "You've ingested enough of my blood that scripture causes you pain. Now take the book from me." He held the Bible out to her.

Maria looked at it loathingly. She had a feeling that her hands were going to dislike it as much as her mind had. An order was an order, though, and she reached out for the book. The moment her fingers landed upon the leather cover she felt a shock like static electricity, but gritted her teeth and took it into her hand. It felt like it were made of magma and in her pain she dropped it. Her fingers were slightly singed and red.

"Why is it so painful for me when you're perfectly fine?" she asked as he picked up the book and put it on the table. "It's your blood I'm drinking, so shouldn't I be just as immune as you are?"

"I wasn't always immune," he said simply.

"So I'm not getting your power so much as I'm getting your potential," Maria surmised.

The smile he gave her was proud as he relaxed on the bed, his hands behind his head. "Come to bed. You're tired and the sun will rise soon."

It had been a long and trying day. Her eyelids were heavy and she nodded before changing into her pajamas. She kept her back to Alucard the entire time, but she couldn't feel his crimson gaze on her so she thought that perhaps he was allowing her to preserve her decency tonight.

The vampire used his powers to extinguish the lights as she crawled into bed beside him. She rested her head in the crook of his shoulder, her hand on his chest as he put a hand on her hip.

"Will you tell me another story?" she asked presently.

"I already am."

She reached out to him with her shadow and his voice came in loud and clear in her mind, his baritone words soothing and rhythmic.

 _For Boian was a wizard; when he wished to create a song,  
_ _He would move in all directions  
_ _Through the tree as a squirrel  
_ _As a grey wolf along the ground, as a dusky eagle beneath the clouds.  
_ _He remembered, he said, the wars of the first times.  
_ _He would free ten falcons to attack a flock of swans…._

Maria's eyes fluttered open and shut as she struggled to stay awake til the end of the epic about a prince who ignores ill omens and leads an unsuccessful battle on his enemies. Alucard's smooth, elegant diction made the tale all the more dazzling, and she was sad once the tale had ended.

"Thank you," she murmured. "It was beautiful."

 _Sleep. The sun has risen._

She didn't need him to command it; she had already drifted off.

* * *

"Maria, wake up. We've got a mission."

The brunette awoke at the first sound of Seras' voice and she sat up quickly. Alucard had vanished and it was only the two of them in her chambers. Maria jumped out of bed and threw on her uniform at lightning speed.

"Have the men already been dispatched, then?"

"No. It's only Master, you, and me that are going."

"The three of us?" Maria couldn't help but grin as she checked her spare clips. "It's been quite a while since we've all been sent out together."

"Quit your idle chatter and let's go."

Alucard appeared beside them fully dressed, donned in his red glasses and hat. The look he gave them was imperious, but Maria could feel his eagerness for battle tingling in the corners of her mind.

"Good evening to you, too," Maria joked, holstering her gun and sliding her Derringer into her bra.

The two girls stood on either side of him and his shadows swallowed them up. When they receded, the three of them stood before a lone manor not dissimilar to Hellsing's headquarters. Maria could sense the heavy presence of ghouls within, yet couldn't feel the host.

"We'll each take a floor," Alucard declared, already withdrawing the Casull from his trench coat.

Maria took her own gun into her hand and readied the action as Seras nodded.

The Nosferatu vanished with a gleaming grin and Maria felt his energy reappear on the topmost third floor. "I'll take the second floor, then," she said.

"Be careful." Seras, ever the mother hen, cautioned before darting into the building to clear a way to the second floor for her.

Maria just grinned and followed the Draculina inside to the symphony of demise. Seras had expertly destroyed the ghouls that had been crowding the stairway, and the teenager bounded up them eagerly. The second floor consisted of a very long hallway with many doors to the right and windows to the left. Approximately thirty ghouls were running toward her, their arms outstretched as they groaned.

Unfazed, she opened fire on them, relying on her third eye to give her a perfect shot each time. Freak after freak shrieked and turned to dust, until the floor fell silent. With each fallen corpse Maria could feel her bloodlust rise and she wondered if Alucard had thought to bring a couple packs of blood with him.

"You're a damn good shot for one of those Protestant bastards."

Maria swirled around to face the voice, her eyes wide in alarm. How a person this huge and menacing could sneak up on her she couldn't fathom. He was tall, taller even than Alucard, with spiky blond hair and blue eyes that brimmed with a zeal that crossed into madness. He was relaxed and yet poised at the same time, as though slaughter came as naturally as breathing to him. In his hands at his sides were two long bayonets that caught in the moonlight like great fangs.

He took a stride toward her and she readied her gun, taking a step back to maintain their distance.

 _Alucard, I need your help,_ she said across their bond. _There's some weird priest with bayonets here and I can't handle him._

The No Life King appeared beside her, his Casull out. He stepped in front of her immediately, and it dawned on her that he was shielding her.

 _Find the police girl on the first floor and escape,_ he ordered. _This priest has put holy barriers on all doors and windows that neither she nor I can touch. You are still human enough you can break through them._

"So you're the Hellsing lapdog," the priest said, his grin widening to alarming proportions.

"And you're the tool that Iscariot is using this century." It was eerie how similar their shark-like smiles were.

 _What are you going to do?_ Maria asked. Fear was bubbling up inside her as she watched these crazy men bear down on one another, their thirst for destruction palpable. She didn't fear Alucard, but she feared the devastation he could wreak when he had that fire in his eyes. It was like looking into Hell itself, and all the demons there were staring back at you.

 _Me? I'm going to enjoy myself,_ he laughed, and the two of them began marching toward one another.

The priest lunged at him at a speed impossible for someone so large and so human, his bayonets up and ready, but Alucard just smirked as he easily sidestepped the man and filled him with lead.

"That was anticlimactic," Maria laughed as the priest slumped against the wall, riddled with holes from the Casull.

"He attacked a vampire head-on in the dead of night. It's astounding that the Catholic church has remained in power for this long when they're all such imbeciles." The Casull vanished from his hands as he turned to Maria, grinning. "Now go find the Police Girl. We've finished the garbage detail."

The strange man's heartbeat was gone, so Maria felt confident in turning her back on him and heading for the stairs with Alucard in tow behind her. It was for this reason that she could only gasp in disbelief and agony as both of her calves erupted in a blaze of pain that shot up her legs and her spine. She collapsed, the bayonets in each of her legs clattering as she hit the floor.

"What?" Alucard snarled, and for the first time Maria could recall he seemed alarmed as he swirled to face the blond priest, whose body was emitting steam from where his wounds had been not a minute before. He nearly spat the next words, "A regenerator."

Maria had heard tales of these half-man half-science experiments, and she looked to the blond in horror as she tried to wrench out one of the knives, but the blessed blade burned her hand to touch.

"Oh, so the little lass is your plaything, then?" the priest chuckled as he swung two more bayonets about easily. "I should have aimed for her heart and sent her on way to Hell then."

Alucard was grinning as he lunged at the regenerator, but it was full of malice and fangs. The Casull was back in his hand and he was firing at the priest, but each bullet wound only excited the man further, and with a crazed laugh he threw blade after blade at the No Life King, who in his usual fashion did not dodge them. Maria could only watch from the floor in fixed horror.

 _Go find the Police Girl,_ Alucard commanded her again, his voice calm and smoothe even though he had just taken a blade through the lung.

Maria nodded and braced herself for what was coming next. Her burnt fingers were trembling, but she clenched her eyes shut and grabbed one of the bayonets by the hilt. It felt like she was touching a live wire and she groaned as she pulled it out of her flesh and it clattered to the floor. She did the same to her other leg and then was darting as fast as her weeping legs would carry her towards the stairs.

She had just reached the stairway when she heard the sickening sound of flesh being sliced, something hitting the ground with a dull thump, and then tumbling over and over as the man's wild laughter rang out in the hall.

Her breath shaky as her veins ran as cold as the undead's, Maria bent down to pick up Alucard's head from where it had rolled to a stop at her feet. His hair was long and fell about his face like a mourning shroud, his crimson eyes closed and expression morose.

"No," she whispered, refusing to believe that the great Nosferatu could have been felled by such a trifling man. But his body was pinned to the far wall by a slew of bayonets, and the connection that had always simmered in the back of her mind was now cold and silent.

"So this was the best that Hellsing had to offer?" the priest rolled with laughter before turning on Maria, who stood clutching her King's head to her chest as she glared daggers at the man who dared harm him so. "And now it's time to take care of you, wee lass," he said with a saccharine smile. "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. Amen."

A fury like none she had ever felt before raged within Maria. It was a tempest that could obliterate civilizations, a madness that could sicken the masses, and her very soul brimmed with it. Her shadows swirled about her as she unconsciously summoned the force that Alucard had given her. They had opened a portal in the floor at her feet and she was sinking into it inch by inch, clutching the vampire's head tightly. She wanted to stay and fight this bastard even if it meant her death, but she would obey Alucard's orders.

The priest's eyes widened in bewilderment and then rage as he realized what sort of dark power she was harnessing. She had nearly vanished into the floor, but he was running towards her now and she couldn't hasten this new ability.

He seized her by her curly locks and wrenched her up out of the floor and her shadows, and Maria snarled in rage and pain. She still held Alucard's head to her chest, and the priest speared it with a bayonet out of spite before taking another and holding it to her throat. The edge of the blade pressed into her jugular and burned like acid.

"What are you?" he demanded in a deadly hiss.

Maria held her chin up high, defiance shining in her emerald eyes even though the motion dragged the blade across her neck and cut a bit deeper.

When the silence between them stretched on for a few moments and he realized that the girl wasn't going to give him any answers, he snarled and lifted the blade into the air. Maria closed her eyes, readying herself for the blow she knew was to come. She hadn't wanted to die, but knowing that Alucard was gone as well and that she had no hope of defeating this man made it much more bearable.

Four gunshots rang out of the blue and Maria's eyes shot open as she fell to the ground on her injured legs with a jolt of pain. Anderson was reeling back, his bayonet shattered and the hand he had been holding her by was clinging to his arm by a few sinews.

"Paladin Alexander Anderson. Kindly step away from my soldier before I blow your brains out."

Integra stood behind Maria, her revolver trained on the priest's head as smoke rolled from the barrel. Two armed guards stood beside her, their guns ready as well. Maria took this reprieve to remove the bayonet from Alucard's head and toss it to the floor.

"Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing," the priest said with an air of civility unbefitting him, "the Protestant whore leader of Hellsing. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

If the slur rankled Sir Integra, it didn't show on her cool features. "You are violating our agreements by being here. The vampire and its ghouls have been dispatched. Now return to the Vatican."

"Last I checked, there's still a little Draculina and this thing to clean up."

"They are under Hellsing employ. Now remove yourself from the premises."

Anderson was so fast that Maria's eyes could hardly follow him. He sliced through the two guards before shoved Integra against the wall, a bayonet prepared to halve her, but she had drawn her own sword and was holding him back with trembling arms. Maria used her shadows to bring her gun back to her and trained it on the man.

"Who's going to protect you now?" he sneered mere inches from her face. "I've already cut off your lapdog vampire's head."

Integra's grin was both smug and triumphant. "Cut off his head? That's all?"

Anderson looked unsure of himself.

At that moment, Alucard's head in Maria's hands melted into blood and dripped down her front to the ground. Maria gasped as she felt their mental connection fire up again, his cool and ancient presence filling the corners of her mind.

 _You didn't really think I could be killed so easily, did you?_ he teased.

Maria let out a gleeful laugh as a smile grew on her lips like the moon bursting out from the clouds. He was the No Life King; of course a simple beheading wouldn't be enough to destroy him, even if it had been with a blessed blade.

 _Iartã-mã,_ she said, her joy spilling into their bond like a wave crashing into the shore. It was met with his subdued but intense pleasure, and Maria relished it. Her emotions sometimes slipped into their mental connection because she still didn't have complete control over them, but it was exceptionally rare for the Nosferatu to share his with her.

Raptly, she watched as his corpse melted into a pool of blood and slipped through the cracks of the floor, only for a sea of bats to burst through the window and begin to meld together into a humanoid shape. His hair nearly reached the floor and his red eyes were crazed as he threw his arms wide, as if to reach out and embrace the night itself.

Maria was overcome with awe. _This_ was the reason he was the King. Knowing that she had his power running through her veins and that one night she would be standing beside him as an equal made her tremble in eagerness.

Integra had observed the entire thing while keeping Anderson at bay, a proud smirk on her lips. "What will you do now, Father?"

Integra had her sword, Alucard was toting the Casull, Maria had trained her gun on him, and Seras had just appeared holding her own firearm at the ready. He backed away from the Hellsing heir, his bayonets vanishing as he withdrew a Bible from a pocket of his coat. "I'll return to Rome for now. I need some preparation before I kill that one." Alucard gave him a sneering grin as the priest turned to Maria. "And I'll figure out what she is too."

With that, the mad priest was gone in a swirl of scripture.

"Maria, are you alright?" Seras rushed to the girl, who was applying pressure to her fairly deep cut to her neck.

"I'm fine," she said easily. "Were you injured?"

"No. He met you before he met me. Let's get you back to headquarters."

"Here." Alucard held out his crimson cravat to her and she tied it tightly beneath the cut in order to stem the bleeding a bit more. His expression was unreadable as he picked her up bridal style.

"This is the second mission in a row that you've had to carry me home," she whispered, the tightness of the cravat making it hard to speak.

"You're becoming a burden," he complained, though there was no bite to his tone.

"Considering in the last mission she was against three vampires and this time she was against Bayonet Anderson, I'd say it's a miracle she's still alive," Integra said as she sheathed her sword. She cast a bitter look to the two guards who had lost their lives to the priest. "Any other mortal would have surely been killed."

Alucard dragged his cool tongue up Maria's neck, lapping up her spilled blood as she turned beet red. "My queen is much more than a common human."

 _Would you please not lick me in front of the others?_ she pleaded, though inwardly she was basking in his praise.

"Yes, well," Integra blustered, a slight dusting of pink on her cheeks as she watched the spectacle, "go take your harem back to headquarters."

Seras seemed to object to Integra's choice of words, but came to stand at Alucard's side with a frown on her face. However, the vampire remained stationary.

"What are you waiting for?" Integra demanded.

"I'm short one of my women," he said simply, eyeing her with an impish smirk.

Maria had to press her face into Alucard's chest to hide her laughter as Integra's features contorted in rage. The Nosferatu's shadows had swept them away before she could shoot him, thankfully.

Back at the manor, Seras insisted on staying with Maria until the doctor had stitched up her neck and both of her legs despite Maria's assurances that she was fine. Alucard sat at the table drinking a glass of blood, looking distinctly bored while the curly-haired blonde sipped at a packet of Type B ravenously.

"Could I have another?" Maria asked when she finished it.

Alucard tossed her one more packet and she wasted no time in opening it. "You phased through the floor back at that manor," he said. "I didn't expect you to be able to use that ability so soon."

"You phased?" Seras couldn't hide her envy.

Maria shrugged. "Yeah, but I couldn't control it well. I wanted to speed it up, but that crazy father yanked me out of it by my hair."

Alucard tutted. "You need to focus more. Your shadows are an extension of your will, but you must direct them."

"I'll practice," she promised.

Seras looked a bit glum beside Maria on the bed, and the teen knew exactly the cause of her melancholy. She offered the half-drained blood packet to Seras, who wrinkled her nose and turned away.

"I've got to go make my rounds with the men," the blonde lied, rising to her feet. "Take it easy, alright?"

Maria gave her a resigned smile and wave as she took a pointed sip.

Alucard chuckled as the police girl all but ran from the room. "She'll come around eventually."

"I'll be a bit sad when she does," Maria admitted.

The vampire nodded in agreement but said nothing. It wasn't long until the doctor arrived and set to work sterilizing and stitching up all of her wounds. Alucard's oppressive air made the portly surgeon so nervous his hands were trembling as he stitched up Maria's wounds and she had to ask the vampire to go somewhere else.

The moment the doctor bade her goodnight and closed the door behind him the Nosferatu was back in her room, clad in his casual clothes. Maria summoned her shadows and willed them to bring her satchel of schoolbooks, and she began reading through the next chapter of her chemistry textbook. Just because her classes for tonight had been canceled didn't mean she would have a makeup lesson. Mr. Willows had left her a list of the passages and homework she was to finish for tomorrow night's lesson.

Maria rubbed at her heavy eyes and forced them to focus on the words on the page. It wasn't an easy task, however, with the amount of blood she had lost.

"You need rest," Alucard said, not bothering to look up from the tome he was reading.

"If I don't get this done tonight I'll have that much more to do tomorrow."

He shot her an unconvinced look. "You'll be able to finish it in plenty of time tomorrow."

Maria returned to her studies, penning the key points in a notebook on her lap. "I'll just finish chemistry, then."

She took his silence as approval and redoubled her efforts. True to her word, when she had finished the chapter and homework nearly an hour later she put her things away and pushed them under the bed. She had already changed out of her uniform and into pajamas, so she simply got under the blankets as the lights dimmed thanks to Alucard, who remained sitting at her table reading his book in the darkness.

She had grown so used to having the vampire in bed beside her for the past month that despite her fatigue sleep remained illusive. A regular person would have craved a warm body, but Maria sought the cool marble that soothed the fever his presence gave her. It was only three a.m., however, and she doubted that he would want to waste away the remaining few hours of nightfall lying beside a sleeping human, so she didn't voice her desires and tried unsuccessfully to drift off.

Maria wasn't sure how long she had been staring at the ceiling when she heard his book close, and in the very next moment he was lying to her left in the bed. Smiling, she immediately rested her head on his chest and put an arm around him.

His chest rumbled as he said, "It will do neither of us good if you are too dependent on me."

"Yes," she agreed, "I'm sorry." She ran a finger down the smoothe plane of his chest and she found herself wishing he wasn't wearing a shirt. "But you like sleeping with me too."

His fingers tightened their grip on her hip. "Why would I enjoy sleeping next to something as hot and fidgety as yourself?"

Unfazed by his barbed words she said, "You like listening to my heartbeat."

The long fingers at her side slackened and then danced up her body to her hair where they ran through her long curls. Her breath hitched when he tugged her up to his eye level and she felt his lips like feathers on her cheek.

He breathed, "Especially when it's racing."

Then his lips were upon hers and he claimed her mouth as his own. She let out a soft moan and clutched at his chest desperately. How on earth it was possible for something so simple to feel so _good_ she would never understand.

By the time he pulled away her heart was beating a staccato as she gasped for air. He chuckled and returned her to her original position a bit lower, so that her head was resting in the crook of his shoulder.

"Will I have to sleep in a coffin once I change?" she asked.

"Sometimes."

The coffin was the only part of becoming a vampire that she wasn't looking forward to. Who would want to cram themselves into a cramped little box when they had slept in a luxurious queen sized bed?

"Sleep. You need rest to heal your wounds," he ordered.

"Okay, but one more question." She felt a long index finger tapping impatiently at her hip. "When will I be able to regenerate?"

"Probably not until you become a fully-fledged vampire." He gave a thoughtful pause before adding, "But you've shown remarkable prowess already, so perhaps sooner."

"Good," she murmured. "I hate being held back by this body."

Alucard could no longer be bothered to speak verbally. _There will come a time when you'll miss the frailty._

Maria had a hard time believing it.

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it, as I just love Anderson. He's so cooky. This fanfic follows the plot of the manga with minor alterations, so you can likely infer what is coming in the next couple chapters. Review and follow, por favor!

Also, the poem that Alucard recites is an actual one. It's quite pretty. I've forgotten the name of it though because I'm a putz.

Also also, I feel that the word "smooth" should be spelled "smoothe" because it looks smoother that way. My sole mission in life is to make "smoothe" the standard spelling.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Another installment, in which my second favorite character from this whole series appears. Also, Romanian. Yay! This chapter is much longer than the rest, but I just couldn't find a good place to slice it. Apologies.

* * *

Maria's wounds from Anderson resulted in another month off duty, much to her chagrin. She spent the time studying and pestering Seras and Alucard alternately, and they occasionally took her to the shooting range so she could let off some steam.

Alucard had summoned her to his chambers, and she had to resist the urge to run there knowing that they would be continuing the ritual tonight. His chamber was black as night, but she could see the vague outline of his chair at the far end of the room and his glowing red eyes.

Smiling up at him, he sat down on his lap. To think that a few months ago this had felt unnatural! Now, it simply felt _right_ to be straddling his hips _._ Maria craved his presence like a drug, and his absence gave her a keen withdrawal. Alucard was staring directly into her eager emerald gaze with an unreadable expression, though she thought she could see a hint of delight sparking deep within his crimson pools.

"What are the rules of engagement today?" she asked jokingly.

"Choose where you'd like to drink from," was his order, a smirk curling his lips.

Maria had been thinking about this choice for a couple weeks now. She had been in a constant state of arousal for nearly the entire month, as Alucard's new favorite hobby was exciting her as much as possible while denying her release of any kind. She had decided that she would use tonight as a chance to get back at him.

"Your finger, please."

His smirk widened to a grin that revealed his razor sharp fangs, and Maria wondered if he had surmised part of her strategy. He bit down on his gloved index finger and instantly red began to spread across the pristinely white glove. Maria's mouth watered and her throat burned at the sight.

Alucard held the digit centimeters from her parted lips. "Drink," was all he said.

She obeyed by dragging her tongue up his finger, swirling around his fingertip, and then taking the tip into her mouth. Delight dripped from his dark smile as he tangled his free hand in her long curls. For Maria, the blood was only half as enjoyable as bringing that crooked grin to his lips. She brought the entire finger into her mouth and suckled on it before pumping it in and out at a languid pace.

She could feel him hardening beneath her and she rocked her hips against him. When his grip in her hair tightened, she knew she was getting to him.

"Where did you learn such a filthy thing?" he breathed, entranced as he watched her take his finger into her mouth again and again.

 _I'm a virgin but I'm not clueless,_ she laughed in his mind.

"Clearly," he murmured.

She ground down against his length once more, thankful she had had the foresight to wear a short skirt that rode up and allowed them only two thin layers of cloth as separation. Her underwear was already wet, and she desperately wished that Alucard wasn't wearing any pants.

He must have picked up on her thoughts because he chuckled, "That's another five years from now."

 _Don't be so sure,_ she whispered in his mind, and in a moment she had tugged on the pesky glove with her teeth, removing it just enough that his shorter index finger could slip free before sliding the glove back on over the other four digits. Before he had time to react she slid his entire finger into her wet, warm mouth, sucking it and swirling her tongue over it.

She watched as shock and ecstasy crashed over his features, and in an instant his hair was to his waist and wrapped around her arms like tendrils, his blood red eyes glowing with a hunger for something other than blood.

"Maria," he groaned, "opreștete."

Though reluctant, she drew away from him, his finger leaving her mouth with a soft _pop_. For a moment he just stared at her with that smouldering look, and she began to wonder if she had gone too far.

He took her face in his hands and pulled her closer, so that their noses were just touching as he looked at her with those crazed eyes.

"De ce mă tenta asa?" he asked.

His lips crashed upon hers before she could open her mouth to answer and he kissed her viciously as he pulled her close enough that her breasts pressed against his chest. Maria moaned at the sudden onslaught, gripping his shoulders for support.

Suddenly they were lying on her bed in her room, Alucard on top of her in only his white shirt and gloves, while Maria wore only her white underwear and matching bra. His chilled skin was thrilling against her slightly sweaty body. His long hair pooled around her, making his brutally beautiful face the only thing she could see as he continued claiming her mouth in a bruising kiss.

Maria wrapped her legs around his hips and gasped when she felt his engorged manhood meet her pussy through the sheer cloth of her panties. Alucard snarled into the kiss and bit her tongue as he grabbed her by the hips and ground himself against her core.

 _The only thing I want to do right now is sink my cock deep in you and feel your heartbeat from the inside as I make you cum,_ he murmured in her mind as he sucked on her bleeding tongue. He still held her tightly by the hips as he rutted against her.

Maria's heart nearly skipped a beat at his words and she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer to him, so that his chest was flush against hers.

 _Yes, please,_ she begged. _I want it more than anything._

 _Even more than becoming my queen?_

The haze of lust that had been fogging her brain lifted at his teasing words, and she looked up to see humor glinting in his eyes.

"No, of course not," she said immediately.

His grin turned near predatory. "Then you'll have to do something to alleviate this situation."

Maria sat up with him and they switched positions so that he was lying on his back and she sat between his legs. He had lost some of the madness from before; his hair was now only to his shoulders, tousled and wild. He wore the expectant smirk of a king as he looked at her between his legs.

Maria's eyes traveled from his face, down his chest, and to the situation that had "arisen," as it were. Though they had been fooling around for a few months now, she had never actually lain eyes on his manhood until now. Like the rest of Alucard, it was the pinnacle of perfection. A drop of pre-cum was glistening at the tip, and Maria was surprised to see it. She knew that vampires cried blood, so she had wondered if that extended to other fluids-

"Grăbeşte-te," he commanded, his expression turning imperious.

Maria hastened to obey and began by kissing him hungrily, dashing her tongue against his fangs so that he could taste her again. She then trailed open-mouthed kisses down his neck, taking time to suck longingly at his jugular, before travelling south until she reached the thin line of black hair that began beneath his belly button and led her to the grand prize.

She would have been lying if she said she wasn't nervous. This was her first time doing this, and she could only hope that she would live up to Alucard's expectations. But if there were anything he hated, it was timidity. So she swallowed down her feelings and stuck out her tongue to lap up his pre-cum. Salty, bitter, but not overly so, she found that she liked it nearly as much as his blood. She swirled her tongue about the head before taking it into her warm mouth and sucking. Alucard's hands found their way to her hair, his fingertips pressing into her scalp. Taking this as a good sign, she began dragging her tongue from the base of his cock all the way to the weeping head, which she would proceed to take into her mouth for the briefest of moments before repeating. Before long, he was tugging on her hair, his hips jutting up to meet her mouth each time, only to have her deny him his wish.

"Maria," he threatened in a growl.

She dragged her tongue up and down him once, twice, and then on the third time took him completely into her mouth. She nearly choked on his girth, but managed to control herself and wasted no time in bobbing her head up and down in a hard rhythm while she squeezed his firm balls.

The No-Life King writhed beneath her, groaning as he guided her pace with his hands in her hair. Knowing that it was her who was making him come apart, that it was only her that could see this, gave Maria a rush of power as heady as her own arousal at the sight.

 _Where would you cum, my king?_ she asked as increased her speed. _In my mouth? On my breasts?_

She felt his balls tighten and a jolt shoot through his rock-hard cock at her words.

 _In your mouth. I want to see what it will feel like when I cum in your cunt next time,_ he answered, and Maria moaned at the thought.

Alucard's hold in her hair became more demanding as he neared his release, and he moved her head back and forth as his hips rose to meet her lips. He set a brutal pace as he fucked her mouth, but he was careful not to injure her. She felt his abs clench just as he suddenly stilled, and her mouth was filled with his seed as he let out a soft sound of bliss. His long fingers in her hair twitched, and after Maria swallowed his load he withdrew from her mouth.

Panting, Maria looked up to him to see that he wore a delighted grin, his crimson eyes twinkling with satisfaction. He pulled her to him so that she was lying on his chest and gave her a passionate kiss. Traces of his cum and blood mingled together on her lips and she felt his cock give a twitch of arousal at the taste.

"My beautiful queen," he said, "you never fail to impress."

She gave him a glad smile and rolled off to lie beside him. His eyes were closed, and Maria thought he looked a lot like a cat basking in the sunlight as he absently ran his gloved fingers through her curls.

The two of them lay there in a comfortable silence for a while until Alucard said, "You haven't drunk enough yet."

He proffered his neck to her, and when he cast her an expectant look she realized that he wanted her to create the wound. She ran her tongue over her teeth and was disappointed to see that her canines were still their regular mortal size. She summoned her shadows to her fingertips and they took the form of claws.

"Ah," he tutted, a teasingly dark smirk on his lips. "Use your mouth."

Realization dawned on her and she sent her shadows to her teeth this time, feeling them enlarge her canines to something more appropriate for the task. It was odd, but somehow this made her even more nervous than the incredibly intimate act she had just performed a few minutes ago.

Alucard chuckled as her apprehension bled through their mental connection. "You just let me fuck your mouth without a care in the world, yet a little nibble has you cowering?"

"Don't be so crass," she chided, a ruddy blush spreading over her cheeks. "I just...I don't want to do it sloppily."

He ran a gloved finger down his neck along his jugular. "Bite here and you'll be fine."

She gave a nod and then crawled closer, so that she was pressed against the side of his body. She ran her new fangs over the line Alucard had drawn for her and lingered for a moment before plunging her teeth into his perfect flesh. It gave with surprising ease, and when she withdrew her fangs and her shadow powers faded, his irresistible blood welled up to greet her waiting tongue.

 _Why does your blood taste so good?_ she wondered as she suckled at his neck, her legs wrapping unconsciously around one of his.

"Power in any form is alluring," he answered. His hand at the back of her head pressed her further against him and she renewed her efforts to drain him.

Her plan to get revenge on the Nosferatu for keeping her in a constant state of arousal for a month had backfired royally. She had intended to leave him high and dry to give him a taste of his own medicine, but instead it was once again only her who was without release. She writhed against his leg, the heat within her demanding some sort of alleviation. The hand in her hair trailed down to her ass, where it pressed her core to him in time with her movements. Maria let out a soft sound of longing as she continued to drink.

 _Wouldn't you say I deserve some sort of treat for my good deed?_ she asked.

He snorted derisively. _My dear, nothing that you do in this bed with me can be considered good._

 _Semantics,_ she laughed. _You've left me wanting for nearly a month now. I'm just a lowly mortal still-that's a long time to wait._

Maria could hear him chuckle softly. _You're as much a lowly mortal as I am a saint._

 _You could be the Patron Saint of Dismemberment._

The blood flow slowed to a halt and Maria lamented its loss. She didn't have long to feel sad about it though because in an instant he had seized her in a controlling, demanding kiss.

 _I suppose a reward is in order,_ he whispered, his voice like black silk in her mind.

Finally he would give her what she had been dying for and Maria's heart raced as she wondered just what form her reward would take. He broke the kiss and then began kissing his way south, taking time out of his journey to lavish her breasts and achingly pert nipples along the way.

Maria could have died from the intensity of her desire. So strong was her need for him that she thought she might explode the moment he touched her. Of course he knew this full well, and therefore made his way to her heat at a torturously slow pace.

"You're a sadist," she hissed as he nipped at her thigh and lapped up the few droplets of blood that he spilled.

"You're an exceptionally poor judge of character if you're only finding that out now," he said from between her legs, his scarlet eyes full of mirth.

He leaned back down so that all she could see was his long mop of black hair, and when his cool tongue touched her pearl she let out a whimper as he poured fuel on the fire already burning within her.

Out of nowhere, there was a humming sound and the lights in her chambers faded. Alucard pulled away from her and gave a slightly intrigued look to the ceiling.

"Looks like you're going to have to wait for your reward," he grinned cruelly.

Maria slammed her head back onto the pillows, growling. She ground out, "Why?"

"There are ghouls invading the manor."

He sounded like he was talking about something as everyday as the weather, but Maria shot up in alarm. "Ghouls? In Hellsing headquarters? Jesus." She leapt out of bed and threw on her uniform in record time, tucking her Derringer into her bra and holstering her other gun. When she turned back around, Alucard had donned his red jacket and hat, looking as unruffled as ever.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I'm going to wait down here. They'll come to fight me."

She nodded. "The Round Table Conference must be their target. I'll head there. Where are Walter and Seras?"

"On the second floor. They'll be making their way to the conference."

"Got it."

She gave a wave of farewell to Alucard and then stalked out of the room, her shadows swirling about her at the ready. She heard the vampire's excited chuckle as the door shut, and his giddiness bled through their connection briefly. It did nothing to alleviate the rage she felt, however. She had spent an entire month dying for fulfillment, and just when she was about to get it these bastards had cockblocked her. There would be retribution, and it would be nothing short of a rain of blood and entrails.

Alucard chuckled in her mind. _Aren't you more upset by the fact that the ghouls are killing our men? Invading our home?_

 _Of course that upsets me as well,_ she said hurriedly. _This is my home and they're my comrades._

She bounded up the stairs and through the portrait that obscured them. The guards around her looked on edge and clutched their firearms warily, but she couldn't stick around to help them. Maria wished them luck and then dashed down the long stone corridor, and when she rounded the corner she was met with a wall of ghouls armed with guns and riot armor.

"You're fucking kidding me," she hissed as they raised their assault rifles and opened fire.

She channeled her power into her third eye and was astonished as the world seemed to go into slow motion. The bullets were soaring towards her at a crawl, and she was able to jump into the air to avoid them as she pulled out both guns. She opened fire on the ghouls immediately, blasting a hole between their eyes with inhuman precision. But there were more ghouls than she had bullets and she was still in the basement. She wished for a weapon she didn't have to reload, like Sir Integra's saber.

No sooner had the thought crossed Maria's mind than Mr. Eyes was bounding through the wall beside her, a sheathed longsword between its teeth. She killed the remaining five ghouls while dodging their bullets and then turned to the hellhound.

"Is this yours?" she asked, taking it from him and groaning from its weight. She used its crimson sash to secure it to the belt loop of her pants. The hilt was encrusted with various jewels and she wondered just how old it was.

 _No. It is borrowed,_ it answered matter-of-factly in a gravelly voice.

"Well, thanks," Maria smiled and patted it on the head.

She resumed running down the corridors and she was pleased when the hellhound tagged along beside her. It was going to be a long slog up the four stories, and she was happy to have someone along for the ride. It wasn't long before they met another band of fifteen ghouls and she ran at them like lightning as she unsheathed the sword. She leapt through their ranks, groaning as she heaved the massive blade through the air and cleaved their heads from their bodies. Blood spurted like miniature geysers and she laughed as they crumpled.

"This is just too easy," she grinned, wiping the sullied blade off on her pants before sheathing it. Putting all of her sexual frustration into the battle made their demises all the more enjoyable.

 _Is that your secret?_ she teased Alucard across their connection.

 _What impertinence,_ he growled.

 _Oh, you know I'm only joking. Do you know where Mr. Eyes got this sword from?_

He ignored her, which was just as well because she had reached the first floor and there was a group of their men about to be overrun by a glut of ghouls.

"Cease fire!" she commanded the men.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" one of them, Stevens, cried out.

"Shut up, Stevens," she snarled and dashed past the soldiers, Mr. Eyes beside her and ready to tear out the throats of any freaks she missed. There were about fifteen of them still firing at her and the Hellsing soldiers, who were behind a makeshift barricade of tables and chairs they had grabbed from a nearby study. Maria used her dark powers to glide between them and swung the blade in a wide arc, cackling as the freaks' heads went sailing through the air. Again and again she swung as the hellhound made quick work of the others.

"She's fucking lost it," one of the men muttered.

"Too much time with the vampire."

Maria rolled her eyes. She had realized long ago that they would never understand the bond she shared with Alucard. The last ghoul hit the ground with a dull _thud_ and she wiped the sword clean again before sheathing it.

"Is there anywhere else that needs backup?" she asked the men.

Stevens shook his head. "Can't say. All communications are down."

"Okay. I'm heading up to the third floor where Sir Integra and the Round Table are. Be careful."

The soldiers began devising their plan of action and Maria headed up the main staircase that would take her to the second floor.

 _You saved their lives and they didn't have a word of thanks?_ Alucard mused in her mind.

 _It's fine,_ she shrugged. _We've got bigger things to deal with now than niceties. Have you had any visitors?_

 _No. I'm getting fed up with waiting and watching you have all the fun._

She snorted. _You'll have your fun. Whoever the hosts are, they're commanding an awfully large and well-equipped army of ghouls. They must be somewhat powerful._

He gave an unconvinced "hm" and his presence faded from her mind.

On the second floor she was met with another large group of the armored ghouls and she steeled herself before sprinting towards them, zig-zagging back and forth to avoid the hail of bullets. The more she used the longsword, the more familiar its weight became. It felt like an extension of her arms and each swing struck true. She and the six-eyed hellhound made exceptionally quick work of the ghouls, and by the time it was over Maria was covered head to toe in their blood. Mr. Eyes, being not entirely of this world, seemed to absorb any entrails he came in contact with and his glossy black coat was immaculate.

She stared at his spotlessness enviously. It would take her at least an hour in the shower to clean this all off.

"What the fuck?! Who the fuck are you?"

A dark-skinned guy burst out of the control room, a mixture of indignation and fury on his features as he took in Maria and the hellhound. His golden piercings glinted in the light. As his golden eyes lingered on her curves his expression turned lecherous.

"Shit, we didn't hear anything about there being such a hot piece of ass here," he said appreciatively. "I had plans to skullfuck that Hellsing bitch, but I think I'll have you first."

Maria couldn't help but smirk at this vampire's idiocy. "I'll cut off whatever you touch me with."

"Ooh, that's my fetish," he hissed, licking his lips.

The vampire rushed towards her with startling speed and she leapt to the right to dodge him as she took fire and aimed her semi-auto. The bullet hit the mark square between his eyes, but he merely swore and continued advancing. A bolt of uncertainty shot through Maria; other than Alucard she had never encountered a vampire that could survive a silver bullet to the head. He was definitely out of her league still.

The hellhound shot her a quick look and then latched onto the vampire's torso, dragging him away from her and buying her time to escape. Go, he ordered her.

"Thanks," she said quickly, and then darted away from him and down another hall that would lead to the stairs to the third floor. She could still hear the vampire screaming obscenities at Mr. Eyes no matter how much distance she put between them.

She could see the stairs ahead of her and bounded up them two at a time, one hand on the hilt of the longsword. The air was heavy with the presence of more ghouls, and sure enough when she reached the landing she was met with a veritable wall of them. At least forty ghouls packed the corridor, but she had the advantage: they all had their backs to her and were intent on Walter, who stood before them coolly with his trusty garrott wire glinting in the light like spider webs. The butler gave her the briefest of glances, acknowledging her presence as he advanced on the freaks and they opened fire. His wires were so thin and his movements so swift that Maria didn't realize he had attacked until the front row of ghouls were sliced into ribbons and collapsed.

She had heard of the Angel of Death, but it was her first time seeing him in action. Her jaw dropped as a self-satisfied smirk graced his lips and he wove through the bullets with a grace belying his age, and more and more of the ghouls fell with each step he took.

Maria forced her mouth shut and unsheathed the longsword. These ghouls were without the riot shields so she was able to hack into them indiscriminately. She willed her shadows to coat the blade and enhance it, and she laughed gleefully when the sword turned black and became able to cut through the ghouls' bulletproof vests and armor as if they were butter. She and Walter were so fast and efficient that in less than a minute they had reduced the brigade to lumps of flesh.

"How are you faring, Maria?" Walter asked with a kind smile.

"Never better," she grinned. "And you?"

He flexed his gloved fingers, his smile widening. "It's nice to know I haven't lost my touch entirely yet."

"Jesus fucking Christ! Someone needs to take Old Yeller out back and finish it off cuz that fucker's got rabies or some shit."

The vampire from before had climbed the stairs, a hand clutching his mangled side to keep his organs from spilling out the gaping hole the hellhound had torn into him. Sweat was dripping down his brow, but at the sight of Maria he grinned.

"Well, what do you know? If it isn't Alfred and Batgirl."

Maria rolled her eyes and sheathed her sword to take out both of her guns. Walter stepped in front of her, though, his wire dancing between his fingers.

"So you're the one controlling the army of ghouls," the butler said. "Who's controlling you?"

The vampire laughed and snapped his fingers, and there was a rush of footfalls behind him. Maria could sense that they were more ghouls and she couldn't help but wonder how on earth they had amassed such a large following.

"You guys are so fucking stupid it's mind-blowing," he laughed. "Our mission wasn't to kill your men-it was to turn them into ghouls. And to skullfuck that Hellsing bitch and kill the vampire."

Maria couldn't help but giggle.

"What?" he snarled.

"If your partner is as strong as you, I'm afraid to say that he's probably already slaughtered," she explained. "And as for Sir Integra-we'd never let you lay a finger on her."

The loss of the soldiers was unfortunate, however. Maria felt a pang of sorrow as the new ghouls summited the stairs and she was met with the contorted faces of her fallen comrades.

"You handle him, and I'll handle the ghouls," Maria suggested.

"Very well, miss," he nodded, and then cast his wires out towards the vampire who was cackling madly.

Maria rushed toward the glut of ghouls and opened fire on them, a bullet between the eyes for each one. She knew all their names, all their faces, and the only solace she could take from this was that she was giving them peace with each squeeze of the trigger. Righteous indignation made her teeth chatter. How dare this bastard do such a thing to her men, to her home.

She ran out of bullets before she ran out of ghouls, and it was with a heavy heart that she withdrew the greatsword. It would be a sloppier killing with the massive blade, and she felt that they deserved better. But they were no longer her men so much as they were monsters now, and they would never know the difference anyways.

"Sorry," she whispered, and swung the heavy sword at Stevens as he ran towards her with his arms outstretched.

His head was cascading through the air in the next moment, and then Maria was flashing through the hundred-some ghouls, culling the masses with each heave of the blade. She was so focused on keeping them all at bay that she lost sight of Walter and the vampire, but she could hear the vampire laugh madly and saw him dashing towards the conference room doors that were at the end of the corridor even though Walter's garrott wire was wrapped tightly around his arm. He laughed as his arm came off and he continued running towards the conference door. Maria lurched towards him, but he was much too far for her to reach. He opened the doors and was immediately met with a hail of gunfire as Integra, the members of the Round Table, and Seras all let loose. Riddled with holes, he slumped against the wall as he chuckled.

Walter and Maria rushed into the room to stand beside Integra, who was demanding answers from the vampire.

"You think they're gonna let me live if they hear me spilling their secrets?" he laughed, and then Maria jumped in surprise when he suddenly ignited in blue flames. "Look! But I'm gonna die anyways so I might as well give you all a little consolation prize since you've lost all your men. Beware of...Millennium."

He faded into ash as the fire faded and Integra's face contorted in rage.

"Walter," Integra ground out, "have the intruders all been neutralized?"

"The ghouls have all been dispatched," Maria said. A brief confirmation with Alucard via their mental connection and she added, "Alucard has killed the other vampire as well."

The Hellsing heir's fists were trembling at her sides. "They broke into my house, they killed my men, and turned them into ghouls. There will be retribution. Seras, Maria, you are dismissed."

The two women nodded and took their leave. Seras had been in the conference room with the Harkonnen as the last line of defense should the enemy have broken into the room, and therefore had not seen the destruction. When her eyes fell upon the corpses of her men turned ghouls she let out a moan of anguish.

"How could this have happened?" she whispered, and when Maria looked to her she was surprised to see red tears streaking down her cheeks.

Maria rested a bloody hand on the draculina's shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said heavily. "They were good men and they didn't deserve such an end."

"I-if I had trained them better, maybe-"

"Seras, don't think that way," Maria commanded. "They were overwhelmed; the ghouls had shields and riot armor. No amount of training could have prepared them."

"But-"

Maria tugged her by the arm, trying to uproot her from her spot in middle of the carnage, but she didn't budge. Seras' entire body trembled as she took in the loss of her men, her friends.

The brunette stood in front of Seras and forced her to meet her fiery emerald eyes. "You're not to blame for this. Blame the people that controlled those vampires."

Seras remained silent but for her quiet sobs.

Maria left her side to go to Walter, who was watching intently as Integra spoke with the other members of the Round Table. The girl asked the butler what they were to do with the corpses, and with a resigned sorrow he explained that they would have to be taken to the crematorium on the grounds reserved from destroying ghouls and vampires. Maria thanked him and returned to Seras, who was sitting on the floor amidst her fallen soldiers, her face in her hands.

Maria picked up two of the bodies, one on each shoulder, and said to the blonde, "We've got to take them to be cremated. Will you help?"

The draculina looked up to her, her face a bloody mess from the tears. "We're burning them?"

"We're giving them peace," she corrected. "You couldn't help them in life but you can help them in death."

Maria watched as the young woman's frown set into something more resigned and she rose to her feet. Without a word she picked up four of the bodies and followed Maria down the stairs, out of the castle, and towards the incinerator. It was kept inside a massive stone building that may originally been a barn, and the contraption itself resembled a great metal room with a heavy, bolted door. Seras opened it and they placed the bodies gently in the far corner of the chamber. They estimated that they would be able to fit about fifty bodies in at a time.

 _Why are you and the Police Girl doing servant's work?_ Alucard sounded bemused.

 _Because Seras is upset and she needs something to make her feel less guilty,_ she answered matter-of-factly.

 _And you?_

 _I just don't want Seras to bear this burden alone._

The Nosferatu was silent for a moment. _I can't tell if the throne will suit you well or ill._

 _What does that mean?_ Maria groaned as her muscles protested when she tossed another body over her shoulder. Thanks to Alucard's blood, her strength had increased to a level well beyond that of a normal mortal, but swinging that massive sword around all night and then carrying three or four bodies at once was bound to push her limits.

 _This kindness you exhibit._ He said "kindness" as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. _A ruler cannot afford to be soft._

Maria recalled what little she knew of Alucard's past reign of Wallachia, of his iron rule and his brother's betrayal. No doubt he had trusted his brother and had been wounded immeasurably by his double-crossing. Perhaps he regretted being kind to his brother?

 _Seras isn't a subject. She's a friend to me, a fledgling to you. And these men fought bravely til the end. Why shouldn't I be doing this?_

He said nothing, perhaps because he didn't have an answer to her question.

She was pleasantly surprised when on their next trip back to the castle for more bodies she found the hellhound in the hallway giving her an impatient look. She could never explain it, but for as long as she could remember she had always understood what the dog was thinking. It was something in its eyes.

"You've been such a big help today," she thanked as she piled a few bodies onto its back. "First the sword, then that vampire, now this. Are you really from Hell?"

It growled at her and began heading towards the crematorium impatiently. Maria just laughed and picked up a couple more corpses as Seras watched their exchange in bewilderment.

Walter showed up after a while and showed them how to work the cremator, which allowed the the girls and Mr. Eyes to continue working. By the time the sun began to crest over the hills Seras looked as though she could faint from exhaustion at any moment.

"Go get some rest," Maria told her as they inserted a few more bodies into the incinerator. "The sun's coming up."

"But we're not finished," she objected.

"We've gotten all but a few of the enemy ghouls," Maria placated, "and you can't keep making trips outside if the sun gets any higher. Let's call it a night."

Seras bit her lip, but the hellhound nipped at her leg and gave her a surly look as if to say, "You heard her. Now go."

She scowled down at the black dog and then gave a sigh. "You're right. But you should turn in too. You must be even tireder than I am."

It was true that the mortal's very bones ached from fatigue. But she wasn't restricted by the sunlight like Seras and the hellhound were and she wanted to ensure that when the draculina woke up the next night that all traces of the carnage would be gone.

"I'm fine," she grinned. "There's not much more to do. I'll have it done in a couple hours tops."

"Master isn't going to like you being up so early."

"Well, he does plenty of things I don't like. I think I've earned the right to displease him a bit. Now go get some rest."

Seras wrapped Maria in an almost bone-shattering hug that Maria reciprocated.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice trembling.

"Anytime," was Maria's sincere reply.

The blonde pulled away and gave a wave of farewell before darting back to the castle. Maria watched her and then turned to the hellhound who stood staring at her blankly.

"Does the sunlight bother you? You don't have to keep helping me," she told it.

Apparently it was finished aiding her because it sank into the stone floor of the crematorium at her words, leaving her to herself. She sighed. The three of them had managed to clear the basement, first, and second floors. All that was left now was the third floor where the highest amount of bodies had been. She estimated there were still fifteen more, and if she carried four at a time she could have it done in two hours.

Her body was loath to heed her commands, but she trudged back to the castle and resumed her work alone.

But she wasn't alone for too long. She had just hefted a third body over her shoulder when the No Life King's voice floated into her mind.

 _Come to bed. The sun has risen._

 _I'm sorry but I can't. I've got to finish this._

 _Your body is at its limit. Return to me._

Maria gritted her teeth as she crouched down to pick up a fourth body and put it on top of another on her right shoulder. She groaned as she rose to her feet, every muscle protesting. Alucard was right, but she couldn't allow herself to rest until she saw the last body put to rest. For the soldiers' sakes, for Seras' sake, for Sir Integra's sake.

 _It isn't my wish to defy you,_ she said as she took a quivering step down the stairs, _but I need to do this. Give me whatever punishment you see fit and I'll take it without complaint._

The Nosferatu growled, but it wasn't in her mind. He stood before her in full dress, his mouth twisted into a furious snarl as he regarded her with nothing less than animosity.

"You would disobey my commands?" he hissed.

"This command? Yes," she answered honestly as she continued to take the stairs one at a time.

He appeared a few steps before her, his expression thunderous. His hair was longer than usual, to his chest.

"Why? Why do you push yourself to do this? For these pathetic mortals whose lives are as inconsequential as grains of sand?"

Maria didn't halt but looked up to meet his tempestuous gaze with her own tear-clouded one. "I feel like I'm little more than a grain of sand myself."

His expression fell as he saw the tears glistening in her emerald eyes, the murderous scowl replaced with the smoothe, unreadable mask he wore most.

"Return to me when you are finished," was all he said, and then he faded into the wall.

She was too tired to unravel his enigmas so she simply continued trudging to the crematorium. By the final trip, the sun had fully risen above the hills and it prickled at her skin slightly, as if she were being stung by sweat bees. So complete was her exhaustion that she all but dragged herself into her chambers. She was filthy, covered head to foot in blood and guts, but didn't have the energy to bathe. The cold stone floor was a welcome reprieve to her sunburnt skin and no sooner had she lain down than her eyes were closed.

"What are you doing on the floor?"

Her lips barely moved. "Sleeping."

"Foolish girl," he muttered, and she felt something like silk caressing her entire body for a few seconds. The next moment she was in her bed under the blankets beside a familiarly cool body. An arm wrapped around her and she found herself curled into his side, her head in the crook of his shoulder.

She wanted to thank him for sending the hellhound to her, as it had saved her life. She also wanted to ask him about the sword and how his fight with the other vampire had went. And whether he was angry with her. Why her skin hurt. Why he hadn't left her on the hard floor.

"Sleep," he commanded.

That was an order she had no desire to disobey.

* * *

 **A/N:** You made it to the end. You're a real trooper. Maybe I should have split this into two chapters even if it would have seemed a bit abrupt. Ah, I love Jan. It's a shame he was around for such a short time.

opreștete=Stop

De ce mă tenta asa?=Why do you tempt me so?

Grăbeşte-te=Hurry


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** A shorter chapter to make up for the gargantuan one last time. Enter another phenomenal character. Hope you like it!

* * *

When Maria woke up, she was surprised to realize that she was not alone in bed. Alucard lay beside her staring boredly at the ceiling. The moment she awoke he turned to look at her, a trace of the previous night's anger smoldering in his eyes.

"Hello," she said.

"You're an idiot," was his icy greeting, and his grip on her wrist was tight enough to leave a bruise as he held her hand up to her face. Her arms from mid-bicep and down had broken out in a heinous, fiery red rash that burned with the intensity of the sun. Alucard's cool skin seemed to alleviate the ache somewhat, though.

"It only hurt a bit when I was outside," she murmured. "I had no idea…"

"When you drink my blood you gain the strengths and weaknesses of the night," he snapped. "You will cover yourself up when you go outside at day and you will avoid the morning light."

She nodded mutely as she stared at his chest, unable to meet his furious gaze. The hand at her wrist was suddenly on her chin, however, forcing her to look up at him.

"You disobeyed me."

"Yes," she admitted.

"Do you regret it?"

Seras' devastated look upon seeing the fate of her men flashed through Maria's mind, and then the embrace and thanks she had given the teen before she slumbered.

"No," she answered, and braced herself for his wrath.

His lips were set in a hard line, his crimson orbs boring into her own as if he were trying to see through them and into her soul.

"I have no need for a disloyal queen," he said in a deadly soft whisper.

"I've sworn to spend all of eternity with you," she said, a bit of frustration bleeding into her voice. "My entire life I have heeded your every word, and I will continue to do so. My loyalty to you is absolute. But sometimes your judgement isn't correct. Seras is your fledgling, and by extension mine in a small way. She's still so human-she needed that kindness last night."

"So you will disobey me if you feel I am wrong?"

"Yes," she answered without hesitation.

The ancient vampire regarded her with that same menacing stare before rolling onto his back and gazing at the ceiling boredly. "I am seldom wrong."

She nodded in agreement and when he put his arm back around her she curled up against him once more, her body relaxing as she realized he was no longer angry.

"How was your fight with the other vampire?" she asked presently.

"Disappointing. I ended up letting the dog eat him."

Maria chuckled. "And where did Mr. Eyes get that sword from?" It currently hung by its sash from the back of the chair at her table.

The vampire tossed the blade a disinterested glance. "It's mine."

"It's so cool!" she exclaimed. "Why don't you ever use it?"

"It's merely a relic now," he dismissed. "It suits you, though."

She propped herself up on her sore arms and leaned over him so she could stare directly into his bored eyes with a knowing smirk on her lips.

"You have a thing for women with swords, don't you?" she whispered. "You're always watching Sir Integra from the shadows when she practices."

A dark grin curled his lips as he took her by the hips and pulled her fully on top of him. The two of them were completely nude and she gasped in surprise at the sudden contact.

Alucard claimed her mouth in a kiss that was as playful as it was vindictive and when he pulled away his cool breath fanned across her cheek as he said, "It's unsettling how well you can read me."

Maria laughed and kissed him again, daring to nip his tongue and relishing his growl of pleasure.

"Please tell me we can spend all night in this bed," she begged as he sucked at her neck, his fangs gliding across her skin but not breaking it. He had only just begun to touch her but she already yearned for more.

He merely chuckled as he pushed her off him and covered them both with the blanket just as there was a knock at the door. Walter entered carrying a tray of food and ten packets of blood.

"Good evening," he greeted the two of them as he placed the silver platter on the table. "How are the both of you?"

"Fine," Maria answered. "And how about you?"

"These bones are a bit stiff," he admitted, a slightly sad smile on his lips. "I'm not as spry as I once was."

Maria and Walter made small talk and the butler informed her that she and Seras were to guard the manor tonight since the Hellsing organization was only thirteen strong if you included the soldiers, Sir Integra, Walter, and the two vampires.

Once he left, the two of them sat up and Alucard used his shadows to bring the large tray of food to his lap. An assortment of her usual breakfast foods were waiting for her, but her hunger was dwarfed by her thirst. She took a packet first and drained it in less than twenty seconds, then reached for another.

The vampire watched her guzzle down pack after pack with a morbid fascination. Completely absorbed in the velvety perfection of the blood, Maria failed to notice his open-mouthed grin until she was on her third one.

"What?" she asked, suddenly self-conscious. "Am I drinking too much? What _is_ too much?"

He suddenly had a wine glass in his hand, but the red liquid within it was much too viscous to be merlot. He sipped from it languidly before saying, "Drink until you no longer crave it. You have a larger appetite than I anticipated."

"Well, yesterday was a bit hectic," she said sarcastically as she took another long drag from the packet, "and I imagine this sunburn is making me thirstier than usual as well."

"So you don't feel it then?" he asked, a hint of disappointment creeping into his baritone.

She gave him a bewildered look.

"The smell of war," he said, and when he grinned all of his teeth were needle-sharp fangs. "Last night was merely the opening act."

Maria frowned. "We lost almost all of our men last night."

"Master is already securing more," he dismissed. "There will always be more of them."

A new question grew in her mind, but she wasn't sure she should voice it. Alucard watched her hesitate and gave her a prompting look.

 _...Will we always serve the Hellsing family?_ she asked.

 _Dynasties rise and fall in the blink of an eye. And when this one falls, you and I will truly ascend to our throne._

She smiled up at him and went back to draining the medical blood. Once she finished that one, Alucard presented her with her own wine glass already full.

"Mulțumesc," she thanked him. When she took a sip from it, she gasped as she was overwhelmed by the power within the blood. She shot him an astonished look. "You gave me your own blood? You only gave me some yesterday."

He took a sip from his own glass before commanding, "Drink it."

She didn't have to be told to do so; his blood was calling to her and she gulped it down in the blink of an eye. She poured a final packet of medical blood into the glass and once she had drained that grabbed a piece of toast and went about getting ready for duty. The redness and burning in her arms had faded since she had drunk, and for that she was thankful. When she emerged from the shower, she was both surprised and a bit disappointed to see that Alucard had left the room. Considering his voyeuristic tendencies, she wondered if he had been summoned by Sir Integra.

Maria changed into a fresh uniform, readied her weapons, and met Seras outside the front gates of the castle where they would stand guard for the night. The draculina looked tired and upset, but with a bit of coaxing on Maria's part they were able to chat about the newest rom coms and other banal girl talk. They passed the night together easily, and when the sky lightened to deep purple to the east they were relieved by two regular soldiers.

Maria's nights slipped into this new routine. Her lessons with Mr. Willows had been postponed until the ranks had been replenished, so she and Seras had guard duty from sun down to sun up every night, and when they were finished she would crawl into bed to find Alucard waiting for her, more often than not with a bit of his blood to give her. She had asked him a couple times why he was suddenly giving her so much more, but he always distracted her with his tongue and fingers.

It was nearly a month until Sir Integra and Walter secured new soldiers. When Maria had heard that they were mercenaries, she had been concerned that they would be employing men who could be so easily swayed, but Sir Integra had assured her that the Wild Geese were the best of the best, and would remain loyal so long as their paychecks were on time.

Integra had taken Seras with her to show them what a vampire was, and Alucard had been ordered to stay away from the men so as not to terrify them. Maria was given no special orders and had the night free from duty, so she and Mr. Eyes were playing tag. Alucard had rolled his eyes and muttered something about her childishness, but the fact of the matter was that it provided her an excellent opportunity to practice phasing.

She chased the hellhound down the corridors, through walls and floors, and even through the ceiling. The great black dog's tail was wagging as it narrowly evaded her grasp and vanished through a painting. Maria laughed and darted after him at full speed. Her shadows seeped into the wall ahead of her and she passed through the portal they made as though she were walking through air, and in a split second she emerged on the other side. Mr. Eyes was already on the other side of the room and about to phase through the floor, and she rushed after him. Each time they played she found that she grew faster and faster. Last week she had _nearly_ touched his tail. Tonight she would finally fulfill the promise she made to defeat him nine years ago.

So intent on catching the hellhound was she that she didn't even realize what parts of the manor he was leading her to. They passed through Alucard's dark dungeon, the kitchens, Integra's bedroom, and countless other rooms and hallways, and with each new room she gained a few more centimeters on the hellhound.

Maria's outstretched fingers were a mere hair's breadth from the black dog's tail when they both leapt through a wall, and when they emerged on the other side Maria screamed in triumph and pounced on the hellhound, who growled playfully as they tumbled to a stop in the center of the room. The great six-eyed beast was bearing its fangs and snarling above her but Maria just giggled and stuck her tongue out at it.

"Suck it, Mr. Eyes! You lost fair and square!" she gloated.

The dog's snarl faded, but its eyes were baleful.

Maria laughed again and scratched it behind the ears. "Okay, this time I'll be it. Sound good? Just don't bite me too hard, okay? I'm just a fragile human, afterall."

"What ze fuck?!"

The brunette looked up and her emerald eyes widened in shock as she saw a motley crew of rough-looking men all gaping at her in varying degrees of alarm. The Frenchman who had cried out upon seeing her nearly dropped his cigarette in surprise.

"Ah, wonderful. This is Maria, who is one of our special operatives." Integra stood in the doorway, a smug smile on her lips. She always got a perverse joy out of these introductions. "Stand up and introduce yourself properly."

The hellhound stepped away from Maria and allowed her to stand. The girl straightened her short skirt and deep purple tank top before tossing her tousled curls out of her face. She fixed the men with her best innocent, unassuming girl smile and said, "Hello. I'm Maria. I've been an operative for ten years, so you won't have to worry about me holding my own. I'm looking forward to getting to know you."

"And what the hell is that thing?" the Frenchman demanded, pointing a trembling finger to the hellhound that was currently at Maria's side.

She patted the beast's head. "This is my pal, Mr. Eyes. The last person other than me that called him that lost a hand though, so you should probably just avoid addressing him."

"Jesus Christ," someone muttered.

"And you're a vampire too?" the same French guy asked. Maria assumed that he was leader, being as he was the only one speaking up.

"Oh, no," she laughed. "I'm just a human."

"But you just came through a wall chasing a hellhound."

"I'm a special human," she clarified. She crossed the room and held out her hand to the leader. "What's your name?"

"Bernadotte," he said, and he looked at her hand anxiously as though he thought spiders may sprout from her fingertips before he shook it with his calloused hand. "Most people call me Pip, though."

"Pip," she smiled warmly. "Seras and I aren't half as scary as we look, and we protect our men at all costs. We'll have fun working together."

He gave her a nervous smile. "All of you women here are so hard-core," he said in awe.

"Touch this one and you'll find yourself impaled on the flagpole within the second."

Alucard strolled through the wall in full dress, his red glasses obscuring his crimson eyes from the men, but they didn't need to see his irises to realize that he was on an entirely different level than Maria or Seras. The air in the room grew heavier and darker upon his entrance, as though he had drained it of all joy.

"And this would be a real vampire," Integra said, regarding her servant with a cool look.

Walter burst into the room, panting. "Sorry, ma'am. I did try to stop him."

"They're going to be guarding my coffin," the Nosferatu said simply. "I need to see what sort of men they are." He cast about them appraisingly, and only Pip managed to meet his gaze.

"I suppose they'll do," he said boredly. He turned to Integra. "Now that they've arrived, may I depart on my mission?"

"Yes. But don't dawdle and _don't_ kill anyone. That's an order."

He gave a half-bow and then faded into mist.

 _A mission?_ Maria asked him. _I didn't know there were any missions tonight._

 _It's a private matter. I'll return before sunrise._

She had never known the vampire to have private affairs to tend to in her entire life. Curiosity burned within her, but she knew that he wouldn't answer her questions even if she asked them.

"Well, if that'll be all…" she said to Integra.

"You may go," the heiress said.

Maria turned to Mr. Eyes with a manic glint in her eye. "Remember, don't bite me too hard. I don't want any stitches this time."

The hellhound crouched down, preparing to bound after her with a fanged grin on its lips. She was just about to blast off into the wall when one of Pip's thoughts floated into her mind.

 _So I can't touch the brunette, but I can touch the blonde vampire…_ He was fixing Seras with a furtive look and the vampire met his gaze briefly before looking away, the slightest hint of blush dusting her cheeks.

Maria grinned as a plan began unfurling in her mind.

 _Don't meddle,_ Alucard warned.

 _Oh, it'll be good for her._

 _Until he dies._

 _Joykill,_ she pouted. _Who knows? Maybe he'll become a vampire to be with her._

 _That man is the furthest thing from a virgin._

She paused. _But...you weren't a virgin either, were you? You had three sons._

 _Enough of this conversation,_ he snapped irritably. _Do as you please, but the police girl's misfortune will fall on your head._

He left her mind with an air of finality, though she could still feel a couple angrily pulsing tendrils of his presence in the furthest corners of her consciousness. She wasn't sure what part of her words had upset him, but he was suitably riled with her.

Mr. Eyes gave an impatient growl from behind her and she apologized to the dog before dashing full-speed through the wall with it nipping at her heels.

The hellhound was much too fast and never failed to catch her. After a couple more rounds of tag she returned to her room to study, rubbing at the bite marks she had received with each loss. It had listened to her this time, though, and while the black dog had drawn blood she wouldn't require stitches. Last time she had received five to her thigh, but tonight bandages would suffice.

She was studying Latin for the following night's class with Mr. Willows when there was a knock at her door and Seras entered in her pajamas of t-shirt and shorts, holding up a couple DVDs. Since Maria's ritual had begun several months ago the girls' movie nights had become increasingly infrequent. Alucard was spending more time with his charge, and the ancient vampire saw no merit in staring at moving pictures about fake things and fake humans for hours on end.

Maria closed her books and the two of them moved the ample flat-screen from the top of a dresser to the table that was nearer the bed, along with the DVD player.

"What ones did you get this time?" she asked Seras.

"This time it's _Gone With the Wind_ and _Casablanca._ "

"Ooh, the classics," Maria grinned.

The two of them got under the blankets and lay on their sides, Seras behind Maria with her chin resting on Maria's arm so she could see. Seras had told her before that she missed the warmth so Maria didn't mind when the draculina curled up against her. Maria herself had grown used to a cool body beside her and took solace in it as well.

As _Gone With the Wind_ began to roll, the curly-haired girl contemplated how to bring up the subject of the French mercenary.

"God, what I wouldn't give for some popcorn," Seras groaned.

Maria gave her a sympathetic smile. "Yeah. I'm gonna miss the food."

When there was a lull in the movie, Seras asked, "So what do you think about the mercenaries?"

"The Wild Geese? They seem alright. And if Alucard thought they were suitable then they must be."

"Hmm." Seras sounded unconvinced.

"Why? Does something bother you about them?"

The blonde hesitated for a moment and then said, "Well, it's their leader, Bernadotte. He's…I don't know."

Maria paused the movie and rolled around to fix her friend with a concerned look, concealing her elation that she had been thinking about the Frenchman already. She asked seriously, "What do you mean?"

Seras' cheeks were bright red as she muttered, "He grabbed my ass."

The brunette laughed and Seras' blush only darkened. "And? What did you do in return? Punch him?"

"I was so startled I just sort of demanded to know why he did that. And he said that's just how they greet beautiful women in France."

Maria sniggered. "Well, so now we know he's both cute and straightforward."

"And a complete pig!" Seras added huffily.

"Hold up," Maria said with a mischievous grin not unlike the No-Life King's, "you think he's cute."

"What? That's-of all the- _no!"_ Seras sputtered incoherently, but when Maria's smile only grew she added, "I don't even know him!"

She fixed her flustered friend with an exasperated look. "Seras, you don't have to know a guy to think he's hot. I mean, c'mon. He's got nice hair, gorgeous eyes, a mysterious eyepatch, and that killer French accent. I'd say he's pretty bangable."

"Maria!" The draculina was absolutely scandalized.

"I'm just saying," she shrugged. "It might not hurt to get to know the guy a bit. You two are going to be commanding the soldiers together now, so you have to get friendly with him anyways."

"I have to maintain a professional relationship with him," the vampire argued.

"Even if he gropes you?"

Seras rolled her eyes. "Can we not talk about this anymore? I'm losing track of the plot of the movie."

Heaving a put-out sigh, Maria rolled back around to face the tv and Seras rested her chin on the brunette's arm again. "Alright, I'll lay off. But you _do_ need to get to know him."

They resumed watching the film, but Maria wasn't paying any attention to it. Her mind was whirring with ideas about how to get the naive, virginal vampire together with the swashbuckling veteran of love and war.

The two of them watched the second film as well, but Seras dozed off before the end. Maria turned off the tv and dvd player once it was over and she lay in bed beside her friend, who in her sleep had tossed an arm over her side and nestled her face into Maria's neck. Maria didn't mind it, but she wasn't used to having such a clingy bedfellow. It was usually her doing the clinging.

Though the room was pitch black, she was able to see the clock on the wall that read nearly six a.m. The sun was just beginning to rise, yet Alucard hadn't returned. She wondered where he had gone. Normally, she could extend a bit of her consciousness and make contact with his, but he had erected a wall that made it impossible for her to reach him. Whatever his private matter was, he didn't want her knowing anything about it. Naturally, this only fueled her curiosity though.

It was nearly eight when he appeared in the room in full dress. Maria, who had been half-asleep, instantly became wide-awake.

 _I'm gone for a night and already you have someone new in your bed,_ he teased. _And a woman, at that._

 _Well, I've got to try a bit of everything, don't I?_ she grinned. _She's a bit too clingy, though._

The bedfellow in question had completely intertwined herself with Maria, an arm around her waist, a leg tossed over Maria's, and her face was still nuzzled against the brunette's neck. It was a bit suffocating.

"Police Girl."

The girl in question shot up in bed at Alucard's call. "Master!" she exclaimed happily, if a bit blearily. "Welcome back. I'll just head back to my room, then."

She bade the two of them goodnight and Maria rose to her feet. She took off the vampire's hat and glasses and placed them on the table before taking off his jacket for him as well. He allowed her to do this in silence, even though they both knew that he could do it in the blink of an eye.

"Did you meddle?" he asked her as he sat on her bed and she unfastened the row of buttons on the back of his riding boots.

"Not yet. I might not even have to."

One of the vampire's eyebrows rose in intrigue.

"Apparently, he groped her already. So first contact has been established. She seems to think he's cute, but she's just so virginal. She'll come around, though. I've got a good feeling about them."

Finished with the buttons, she pulled off the boot and began working on his right one.

"A good feeling?"

"Yeah. You smell war in the air, I smell sexual tension." He fixed her with a long-suffering look and she laughed before changing the subject. "Was your mission successful?"

"Yes."

The conversation ended with that, and once Maria had pulled off his other boot the rest of his clothes melted away, as did hers until they were both nude. She snuggled up against his cool, hard body beneath the blankets and he put a gloved hand on her hip to hold her to him. A content sigh escaped her lips.

"You're a much better bedfellow than Seras," she murmured before drifting off.

* * *

 **A/N:** This chapter felt like it was a bit of a lull compared to the previous one. What do you think? Could I have spiced it up somehow? Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Hello again. I'm excited to see what you think of this chapter, as I had a lot of fun writing it. Enjoy!

* * *

"Wake up."

Alucard was sitting at her table in his white dress shirt and black pants, giving Maria a bored look. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes as her mouth split in a yawn. His crimson gaze beckoned her and she went to sit on his lap. Completely nude, her skin broke out in gooseflesh when she left the sanctuary of the blankets to straddle his hips.

"Good evening," she greeted.

"Drink," he replied. "We have a long night ahead."

"What are we doing?"

He bared his neck to her in response, and she brought her shadows to her teeth to create her fangs. Over the past few weeks she had become an expert at finding his arteries, and within a moment she had pierced his flesh to unleash the liquid glory within. She wrapped her arms around him so she could press further against him, her thirst for his blood awakening her appetite for his body.

The No-Life King chuckled and allowed her to grind against him wantonly until his blood ran still and she pulled away, her emerald eyes blown with desire. It was his turn, and he lavished her neck with his tongue before biting down. There was no pain-only pleasure and the need to give him more. His hands wove through her wild curls as he drank unhurriedly, savoringly, as though her blood were a fine wine.

When he pulled away from her neck he wasted no time in seizing her lips in a rough, hungry kiss that she rushed to return. His spicy power coupled with her sweet youth was the perfect harmony, and Maria felt distinctly cheated when he broke the kiss to give her a pleased smile.

"There will be time for that later," he said, and then pushed her off his lap. "Bathe and get changed."

So she did, and when she stepped out of the shower she saw that Walter had come and gone, leaving her meal on the table for her. She got dressed in her uniform and then ate her toast and drank several glasses of blood down. She considered the fried eggs, but for some reason she lacked the desire to eat anything other than bread this evening.

Maria brought the final glass of blood to her lips and drank it down in long gulps, closing her eyes and tilting the glass up to ensure she got every last drop. When she went to put the empty glass back onto the tray she was startled to see that beside the tray and directly before Alucard was a massive, sheathed sword.

"What…?" she began, so taken aback by its beauty that she momentarily forgot how to speak. It was a greatsword not unlike the one she had borrowed from Alucard during the siege, encased in a masterfully carved leather sheath. Various detailed forest scenes adorned it from top to bottom: a bear plucking a fish from a stream, a hawk swooping down to grasp a rabbit in its talons, a wolf snarling at a deer. The hilt of the blade was inlaid with emeralds and rubies that were dazzling to behold.

"A relic," Alucard said, his face and voice carefully nondescript, "but perhaps it will suit you."

Maria looked up from the sword to the vampire, who was watching her impassively.

"You're giving this to me?" she whispered, half in awe and half in disbelief.

"If you have need of it."

The girl nodded and said earnestly, "Of course! I promise to take good care of it. I… Thank you. Is this what your mission was?"

"Among other things," he admitted.

Maria took the scabbard into her hand and drew the sword. It was nothing short of a masterpiece of craftsmanship. Like most greatswords, it had two hilts so that it could be used to cut down masses or engage in one-on-one combat. At the top hilt was engraved a great dragon breathing flames, and the flames licked up the center of the blade to its point.

"This was yours?"

"Long ago, yes."

She could hardly believe that he would gift her with such a precious part of him. Over the centuries he had lost his titles, lands, and everything he held dear but for his coffin and a handful of items such as this one. Though he gave it to her as if it were a meaningless trinket, Maria knew him too well. Alucard was miserly in everything except malice. He wouldn't bestow this memory upon anyone lightly.

"I promise to honor you with this blade," Maria swore.

It was brief, but for the smallest of moments she felt his feelings come through their mental connection unfiltered. A wave of his relief and pride burgeoned within her before vanishing as he tamped down the wall that kept his emotions and intentions from her.

The Nosferatu's expression was still impassive, but Maria thought she could see a flicker of warmth in his eyes. "You can't do that unless you know how to use it," he said. "You'll be spending the night training with me."

Maria nodded, an excited smile breaking across her lips. Alucard had been the one who showed her how to use her third eye when she was a child, and had been the one to teach her how to fire a gun. Other than that, however, he had been a very hands-off mentor. He preferred to let her figure out for herself how to fight, so she was looking forward to this rare chance to train with him.

He took her to the fencing hall that Integra used. The spacious room had a large white circle of marble in the floor to mark the bounds of the fencing arena and along the walls were chairs for spectators as well as all the equipment.

"Should I be wearing armor?" she asked him.

"No. Your uniform will do." The No-Life King had lost his overcoat somewhere en route to the room, and at his side was the sheathed blade that Maria had borrowed the night they were attacked. Maria drew her own blade and sank into what she hoped was a decent defensive stance. She had never been given any proper training and was relying on instinct and what she had seen in movies.

"I will attack, and you will hopefully block," Alucard said, a devilish smirk on his lips as he took out his own sword with the fluid ease that came with centuries of experience.

Suddenly, Maria felt apprehensive. This wasn't just any opponent; this was a five-hundred year old immortal king, and she was just a clueless girl. Judging by his dark smile, he wouldn't be holding back much, either. She forced herself to swallow down the fear that had crawled up her throat and focused her power to her third eye, arms, and legs, gripping the sword with sweaty palms.

And just like that, he was gone. Maria swirled around, her shadows fanning out in all directions in the hopes of catching his presence, but it was as if he had left the room. The next moment, he was three paces from her and swinging the blade to slice her in half at the waist, and she just barely managed to meet his sword with her own. Her arms trembled and the force of his blow sent her sliding back a couple feet, but she somehow managed to hold her ground.

"Square your shoulders, don't overextend your reach," he instructed. "Now, force me back."

She took in his words and then advanced, putting all of her strength into her legs and arms in a mighty shove, but he barely budged. His downright smarmy smile made her boil, and this time she used her shadows to phase just a half step closer to him as her hand slid up the blade to the second hilt, effectively shortening the blade and allowing her to slide it down his and on a course to pierce his side.

With a laugh he effortlessly sidestepped the attack. "That's it. Come at me again."

She lunged at him once more, and when she swung to decapitate him he did nothing to stop her. Instead, the moment her sword touched him he exploded into a swarm of massive black bats that swirled into the air as a great wave and then rocketed toward her.

"Jesus!" she exclaimed, and with only a split second to think of a way to fend off the colony she did the first thing that came to mind: she swung the greatsword in a figure-eight motion as fast as possible, shredding any of the beasts that got too close.

 _Yes, yes,_ Alucard approved, his hunger for battle palpable as his madness crept into Maria's mind like spiders scuttling across her scalp.

The bats vanished and he was back, his face contorted by a smile that was too large, with teeth that were too pointed. He was mere feet away and prepared to cut her down the middle, but Maria saw this and stepped to the right as she thrust the blade forward with a scream of adrenaline. It pierced his gut and she groaned as she yanked it to the right, nearly slicing him in half in the process.

Alucard's insane laughter echoed through the large hall as his side healed and Maria took a step back, chest heaving from the exertion and fear. She knew that he would never kill her. But at the end of the day, she was still a human and her body couldn't help its natural fight or flight reaction when he was coming at her with the teeth of a shark and eyes of a hellhound.

Her sword and sheath disappeared along with his only to be replaced with their pistols, and when he aimed the Casull straight at her and fired her heart nearly leapt out of her chest in fright.

Maria felt something shatter within her as though a darker, wilder part of her had been chained up in the depths of her heart and the fear of death had forced it to break loose. This unfamiliar fragment was free now, and it was as bloodthirsty as it was bellicose.

Her shadows enveloped her like a shroud as she vanished only to reappear inches from the No-Life King himself, and with an enraged snarl she gave him a right hook that sent him reeling back, his jaw nearly ripped from his skull. His torn jaw wagging with the motion, he staggered back as he laughed and spit up blood.

He was upon her in an instant, his gloved hand with inhumanly long fingers closing over her face. He grabbed her by the face and lifted her off the ground, perhaps to hurl her back to the ground or dash her skull into a wall, but Maria had no plans to find out. Her mouth opened impossibly wide and in the blink of an eye she had swallowed Alucard's hand and chomped down with her two rows of jagged fangs. His gasp could have been one of surprise or pleasure as she bit off his hand at the wrist and spat it out.

Alucard seized her again, only this time his lips and tongue were his weapon as he stole her breath away with a crazed, rapacious kiss. His hands roved every inch of her, squeezing her breasts and pulling her against him to feel his raging erection. Maria hissed desirously at the contact and wrapped her arms and legs around him so that her core was as close to his as possible, and she was rewarded for this when he dashed his tongue against her fangs and his irresistible blood flooded into her mouth.

"I can't wait five years," she panted. "I want to be your queen now."

He ran a gloved hand through her curls, giving her a rueful smile. "Patience. We will have all eternity to do those things; you'll look back on this time longingly one day."

She could only take his word for it, so she kissed him again and then stepped away, wiping his blood from her lips. Her teeth had returned to their normal form and the simmering madness that had been singing her brain faded.

"So how did I do?" she asked.

"Better than I had expected, but you have a very long way to go."

She took the half-compliment in stride and the two of them returned to her chamber, where she toweled off the sweat and blood and then cleaned her greatsword. Once that was finished, she parted ways with Alucard to meet Seras and the Wild Geese outside at the training grounds. Targets had been set up far, far in the distance, and Seras was bickering with the Frenchman over why nobody could hit them. Maria just stayed silent and watched them feud, and then when Seras attempted to put Bernadotte in his place and hit all of the wrong targets burst into giggles.

"Maria, when did you show up?" the draculina demanded, bright red with embarrassment as the long-haired mercenary laughed unabashedly at her.

"Oh, long enough," she chuckled. "4500 is asking too much of a human, though. I've got to use my third eye for 2000 and more without a scope."

"Third eye?" Pip looked like he did and didn't want to know.

Maria pointed to her forehead. "It enhances a vampire's eyesight. Lets them see kilometers away, through walls, see things too fast for the human eye to see, like a bullet."

"You can see through walls?"

"If we want to, sure."

"And both you and Blondie can do that?"

They nodded.

"So you could...spy on people?"

"If the fancy struck us, I suppose," Seras shrugged.

 _Oh my God, if I could do that I'd never need porn again,_ he thought in awe.

It was a true struggle to keep a straight face, as she didn't want the men to know that she could read their minds at will.

New targets were readied and brought closer and training recommenced. Maria stayed near Seras and Bernadotte, wanting to see just how well they got along. She eavesdropped on their squabbles as she fired off rounds at her designated targets in the distance.

Really, the only thing the two did was irritate each other. Seras was trying to discuss tactics and battle scenarios, and to his credit Pip was doing the same, only with quite a few unnecessary jabs and perverted asides that served only to rile the straight-laced police girl. It was painfully obvious that the only women this man spent time with were the ones that charged by the hour.

Alucard flitted into her mind, his revulsion apparent. This _is the human you think suits the Police Girl?_

 _Yes. Look past the crassness._

 _It's his sole defining characteristic._

Maria chuckled to herself as she reloaded. _Trust me. They're perfect for each other. Just look at them-they're already fighting like a married couple. Her prudeness evens out his crudeness. They'll be the perfect other half for one another, and they're both so very human. I think it'll be good for us to have them around._

Alucard contemplated her words for a moment. _You're assuming an awful lot. I told you that man will not become a vampire._

A frown flitted across Maria's lips. _I don't understand._

 _There are three ways to become a vampire. That abominable chip is the newest method. The next is when a vampire drains a virgin of the opposite sex and gives them their own blood. The oldest method is only available to the most wretched of mortals who have cast away everything but their fear and weakness. The darkness chooses them, gives them the choice to conquer their cowardice or grapple with it for eternity._

Maria didn't understand his metaphors. Was he saying that he had been a coward in life, and that was why he had become a vampire? He was the most fearless being she had ever known; she couldn't imagine him with his tail between his legs in any circumstance.

 _You are still a child,_ he said bitterly, and then left her to stew over his words.

* * *

The following evening Maria was dispatched on a mission with Seras, Bernadotte, and fifteen additional men. A vampire had risen to power in a small hamlet in Devonshire and had amassed a sizeable flock of freaks. She embarked with both pistols and the greatsword strapped onto her back, which garnered many raised eyebrows from the men.

Maria was a bit apprehensive as they rode in the military-issue Jeep to the hamlet. The rest of the men were in the canvas-topped back, Bernadotte was driving, Maria sat in passenger, and Seras sat in the middle at the mercenary's insistence. The reason for this seating arrangement was that the gearshift would be conveniently located between the blonde's legs. This wasn't lost on Seras, whose face seemed permanently red. He also had the radio blaring some hard rock song that rankled the vampire, who despised anything other than pop and some light rock. Maria ignored the two of them and stared out the window at the dark scenery that whizzed by them.

She was always a bit jittery on her first mission with new soldiers. Her angelic smile and youth made most of the men assume that she was your average teenager who had simply wound up here by some grave mistake. They would treat her like their kid sister. But when they saw her grin and laugh as she ripped out a freak's heart with her bare hands, or when they saw her cherubic countenance change to a beast's snarl when her rage reared its head, the soldiers all realized that she was no sister of theirs. She was the girl who happily laid with a monster, who was casting away her humanity to become one of the things that they swore to eradicate. They would fear and revile her.

Over the years, Maria had gradually come to terms with it. She had cried to Walter at first, when she was ten and after her first mission in a squad the soldiers who used to play with her avoided her like the plague.

So she was to become the No Life Queen and rule beside Alucard. So she had chosen the Night. That didn't make her evil, and that didn't mean that she would ever harm or betray her comrades. She was still a good person, even if she had absorbed a bit of Alucard's love for bloodshed.

But it was human nature to fear the unknown, and there was no one else in the world like her. She supposed Seras was the closest thing, but they were still quite dissimilar. Seras had a wonderful rapport with all of the men because she was still pure through and through, despite being a vampire. The soldiers had all come to view her as a victim of circumstance, turned into a creature of the night because of misfortune. She was always smiling, and while she had a temper she was quick to forgive and never vindictive. The fact that she also didn't drink blood probably reinforced the notion that she was more human than vampire.

Thanks to the way Maria had accidentally introduced herself to the Wild Geese by wrestling a hellhound through a wall, most of the damage had already been done. The men also knew that she belonged to Alucard, and while they still didn't know everything about him, they had the sense to realize that he was not something to be trifled with. Already most of the men kept a safe distance from her. Pip was an exception, however. He seemed happy to talk with anyone.

Maria wondered how he would be towards her after tonight's mission. If he couldn't overlook her true nature, he surely wouldn't be able to overlook Seras' when it finally surfaced.

They arrived at the small hamlet after a couple hours. The original population had been a paltry sixty-seven, so at most they were looking at sixty-seven ghouls and one host. There was a derelict farmhouse a quarter of a mile outside of the village and Bernadotte stopped the Jeep there. Everyone got out of the vehicle and did their last minute preparations, checking and re-checking ammunition, weapons, armor, and communication.

"We all stick together," Seras re-explained. "There will be no wandering off, even if you are in pairs. As this is your first real mission against the undead, we need to be overly cautious. You will defer to Bernadotte and me for anything. We'll head into town on this road and make our way to this yellow house-" She held up a photo of a three-story yellow home for reference. "-and we will eradicate any and all undead that we meet. Aim only for the heart and head. Nowhere else matters. Are we clear?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Seras turned to Maria with a smile. "After you, then."

Maria nodded and gave her a mock salute before leading the men down the road with Seras and Bernadotte close behind her and the rest of the men bringing up the rear. As Maria's senses were more attuned than Seras', she took point. She would be able to notice the presence of ghouls or the host quicker and would be able to phase out of harm's way if the need arose.

They had just walked by the first house when the smell of sweet decay reached Maria's nose.

"Fourteen ghouls approaching from the east," she announced, pulling out her greatsword. The main door of the house to their right burst open and the freaks spilled forth, but the men made quick work of them with their automatic rifles.

"That wasn't bad," Bernadotte said with a relieved grin. "They're not as fast as I thought they might be."

Seras turned to Maria. "Any read on the host's location?"

"Not yet. That yellow house is on the other side of the town, and if she's concealing herself I might not be able to see her coming."

The men all shared nervous glances with each other at her words.

"Onward," Pip commanded.

The rest of their journey into the town was silent. No ghouls, no host. The town seemed to be completely deserted and a heavy sense of unease grew in Maria's gut the farther they traipsed. She stretched her shadows as thin as possible spread them in a radius of fifty yards in the hopes that she would detect the enemy even if they were somehow concealing their presence from her.

 _Something's not right with this,_ she said to Seras in her mind, not wanting to concern the men yet. _Even if the vampire could conceal its presence, I should still be able to feel the freaks._

Seras held up a hand and everyone halted. They stood in the center of the town, where there was a wide roundabout with a fountain in the center. The target yellow house was a block to the west. Everyone cast about them, searching for anything out of the ordinary.

"What is it?" Bernadotte demanded.

"The host and the ghouls aren't here," Maria explained. "If they are here, the vampire is too strong for us."

"So we're pulling back?" The mercenary looked distinctly put out. "Where did the vampire go? We had intelligence only a few hours ago that said the vampire was here."

Seras frowned. "I don't like this," she admitted, "but we have no choice but to head back for now."

The men turned around, muttering their disappointment and frustration. Seras took point with Bernadotte and Maria brought up the rear just in case there actually were enemies in the town. Maria still had her shadows stretched as far as possible, a hand on the hilt of the greatsword on her back. She couldn't explain it, but the hair on the back of her neck was on edge and she could taste lightning in the air.

 _I think we should hurry,_ she said to Bernadotte and Seras. The vampiress, who was used to hearing Maria's voice in her head at times merely nodded and beckoned the men as she picked up the pace. The Frenchman's head whipped around to her so fast it was a wonder it didn't snap, his olive eyes wide in disbelief.

"Did you ju-"

So faint it barely registered, the sound of steel scraping against stone reached her ears and she swirled back to face the fountain, withdrawing the sword from its sheath. A volley of blades was streaking towards them, shining like rockets in the moonlight. Maria gritted her teeth and swung the massive blade in a great figure eight as fast as she could, effectively deflecting the attack.

The men all stopped and turned around to face their enemy, their guns ready. But what they were met with wasn't the target they had expected.

The Judas Priest towered in the distance, the moonlight reflecting off his glasses to make it appear that his eyes were glowing silver. His toothy grin was uncanny as he readied a bayonet in each hand and took a step towards them.

 _Get everyone out,_ Maria said to Seras and Bernadotte. _He'll slaughter everyone. I'll buy you time and then phase to you._

"Maria, I can't let-"

The brunette couldn't afford to take her eyes off the priest who was steadily approaching them. She snapped, _This man caught Alucard by surprise. I can't protect you and fight him. Now_ _ **hurry.**_

"Men, fall back! On the double!" Bernadotte was tugging Seras by the arm as he began to run, and the mercenaries who weren't privy to their mental communicae were bewildered but followed his order without question.

Anderson laughed and lobbed another dozen blades, but Maria knew he would do this and was able to deflect them with the greatsword.

 _Alucard, could you please lend me Mr. Eyes?_ she asked him as calmly as possible.

 _Why?_

 _Afraid I don't have time for an explanation._

Maria summoned her shadows to envelop her body like armor, though she wasn't sure that they could stop blessed blades and she put her power into her senses and legs.

 _Are you mad? You're no match for the priest._ Alucard must have seeped into her mind to see through her eyes, and he sounded furious. _Retreat now._

 _I can't. He'll kill the men if I do that._

The No-Life King snarled and his rage spilled into her mind like magma hurtling down a mountainside. It threatened to burn her alive and her fingers trembled as she fought not to collapse from the intensity.

"Wee lass," Anderson said sweetly as he drew ever nearer, "I've done my studies. I know what you are."

She took out her guns and fired off a quick succession of rounds, two to shatter the blades in his hands and then six more; three in his forehead and three in his heart, but he merely staggered back for a moment and continued advancing.

"You're his queen," he sneered. "You've sold your soul to the devil, and now it's time for your judgement."

Maria took a step back; he was only fifty yards from her now. If Seras and the men ran full pelt back to the Jeep it would take another four minutes. Could she handle him for that long? Alucard's hellhound emerged from the darkness beside her and never before had she taken so much comfort in its presence. It growled and snarled at the priest as drool dripped from its massive fangs.

"This isn't your jurisdiction," Maria said. "What is Iscariot doing here?"

"I've come just for you. Having one vampire like Alucard is bad enough; we could never allow a second one to be created."

"Killing me is the same as launching an assault on the Hellsing organization itself."

"You think I care about that?" he laughed. "You're all a bunch of Protestant heathens who will receive their judgement sooner or later. In your case, sooner."

He threw six blades at her and she and the hellhound leapt to the right to avoid them, but he rushed to her with a fresh batch between his fingers. He was terrifyingly fast, as fast as Alucard, and it was all Maria could do to soar above and over him as she aimed her guns at his exposed back. She unloaded her clips on him, hitting him in the head each time until she had blasted away nearly everything above his neck and he hit the asphalt with a lame thud.

 _Now_ _ **go.**_ Alucard commanded.

 _Not yet._ Willing her shadows to imbue the blade with their strength, she took the greatsword into her hand once more. In one clean swing she cut straight through a cast iron street lantern pole. She sheathed the sword and grabbed the massive light pole, her body crying out in protest. Hesitation wasn't an option-she could see the priest's head was reforming, the brains were materializing and the skull over it, his fingers twitching as though already searching for a bayonet. She took the pole and with a yell leapt towards him as she lifted it up and then rammed it through his gut and deep into the asphalt. Even if he regenerated, he wouldn't be able to move from that spot for a while. Still not finished though, she used her great sword to lop off both of his hands.

Mr. Eyes growled as it nipped her leg imperiously. It was time to leave. Anderson's skull was nearly complete and next his skin and hair were sprouting, a guttural sound more befitting the hellhound issuing from his mouth. Maria jumped on the back of the black dog as she returned her blade to its scabbard and they returned to the Jeep in a matter of moments.

Everyone was waiting in the vehicle, which was idling in the center of the road and ready to speed away upon her return. Maria phased into the passenger seat and yelled, "Go!" as the hellhound faded into the night to return to its master.

"Hold on to something!" Bernadotte hollered to the men in back and hit the gas. With a squeal of tires they were on their way.

"Are you okay?" he demanded. "What about that freak?"

"I'm fine," she panted, though judging by the indescribable pain in her back and shoulders she thought she had seriously injured herself when she impaled him. "I couldn't kill him so I just stalled him."

"Stalled?" Seras asked.

"I blasted his head off, skewered him to the ground, and cut off his hands."

The mercenary's cigarette fell from his lips when his mouth dropped as he gaped at her in horror. Seras readjusted the steering wheel so he didn't veer into the ditch. "You did all that and you couldn't kill him?"

"Maybe if I had cut off his head and taken out his heart, but that could have started a war with the Vatican. I chose the diplomatic route."

"Impaling is what you call diplomatic?" He threw his head back and laughed. "You're all a bunch of crazy fuckers, but I like it."

It seemed that she had managed to keep his favor, and if she hadn't been in such pain Maria would surely have felt elated. Instead, it felt as though her torso had been fed through a meatgrinder and spit back out. She heaved and vomited up a stream of black, foul blood and the pain only increased.

"Maria! What's wrong?" Seras cried as Maria slumped over as she panted, sweat dripping down her sallow brow.

"I think...I think I injured myself. Inhuman power, human body," she groaned. "It hurts."

They were still an hour and a half from the manor.

"What, do we take her to a hospital?" the mercenary asked.

"No. We've got to get her back to headquarters." She ran a cool hand through Maria's curls, unable to do anything else.

"Merde!" Bernadotte slammed on the brakes as the hellhound appeared in the center of the road, its three sets of red eyes glowing brighter than the hi-beams.

Seras must have received orders from Alucard because she shoved Pip out of the way, got out of the Jeep, and then carried Maria to the beast. The moment she touched the dog's fur, it transported Maria back to her chambers where Alucard, Integra, and a team of three doctors were waiting.

The pain was so much that she barely registered where she was and what was happening. She thought that maybe her clothes were gone and that the people were concerned. She also thought there was a large, cool hand in her hair and that its caresses somehow dulled the pain if only slightly.

 _Can I sleep?_ she whispered to Alucard.

 _Yes, but if you fail to wake there will be no crevice in Hell in which you'll be able to hide from me._

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, how'd I do? Is poor Maria going to pull though? And what about Anderson? Haha I had so much fun writing this.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Welcome back for the next installment, which marks the beginning of perhaps my favorite part of the series. This chapter and the next few were as challenging as they were entertaining to write.

* * *

Luckily for the both of them, Maria did wake. She had been unconscious for a solid week, yet when she stirred the pain was still at a crescendo. A groan escaped her lips and she yearned to sink back into oblivion.

"Drink." Alucard lay to her left and he held a bleeding finger to her lips. She obediently took the digit into her mouth and sucked. His blood served as an anaesthetic, the burning agony she felt in every muscle of her torso cut down to a fraction of what it had been.

She looked over to him as she continued to lap at his finger hungrily. His mouth was set in a blank line but within his ruby gaze was a tempest.

 _What happened to me?_ she asked.

 _You disobeyed me and nearly died,_ he bit out. _You pushed your body to do something it couldn't. Your muscles were ripped from the bone and some of your organs hemorrhaged._

 _How am I still alive, then?_

 _Because my power flows through your veins and your ability to regenerate has just begun._

Maria sighed as the gravity of the situation kicked in. Even though Anderson hadn't lain a finger on her she had very nearly been killed. By her own brute strength, no less.

 _You're angry at me._

 _I could nearly kill you_ , he agreed. _You disobeyed me and almost died as a result._

 _But I got everyone back safely, including Seras._

 _You think that means something to me?_ he said scathingly. _You idiot girl-do you want to become a martyr?_

 _No, but I have a duty to uphold to Sir Integra, just as you do. I can't allow our men to die if I can do something to prevent it._

Alucard's lips curled in a snarl that revealed all of his sharp fangs, his hair suddenly a wild mane. His other hand was on the side of her face, squeezing so hard she let out a whimper of pain.

"You are too pure to be my queen," he hissed, his loathing for her dripping from his words. "I will rip out your humanity and fill the hole with the blackest filth."

 _You'll regret it,_ she managed to say, though his long fingers felt like they were about to break through her skull. _You like me because I'm monstrous enough to understand you yet human enough to awaken those dead feelings within you._

His fury was unbridled as he withdrew his finger from her mouth and wrapped that hand around the other side of her face. His nose pressed into hers forcefully as he spat, "How dare you speak as though you understand me. As though you _could._ "

His hands were squeezing and he was going to crack her head open like an egg. Her body still weak and sore, it was all she could do to swipe at his face. Her nails left three long, red tracks down his cheek and Alucard's eyes sparkled with perverse mirth.

The effort had taken its toll on Maria, though. Her body was wracked with hacking coughs that left her wheezing with blood trickling down her chin.

At the sight of her blood Alucard's expression softened into one of startlement and his hands were gone from her face. He vanished from the room, leaving her alone and broken. She didn't know what to think, how to feel about his abuse. He was right to be angry that he had disobeyed him and been wounded, but he knew as well as she did that she wasn't able to allow the men to come to harm. He should at least be a bit thankful that he had protected his fledgling.

Maria had seen the No-Life King's fury on several occasions, but he had never directed that level of animosity towards her. The realization that he had very nearly killed her made her tremble like a leaf. She was nothing to him. If she displeased him, he would destroy her and make another queen. To her, he was her beginning and end, the one person she would forever cherish and follow until the world around them crumbled to dust. But she could see now that in his eyes, she was merely a pretty bauble to be disposed of when it no longer amused him.

There was a soft knock at the door and Maria hastened to wipe away her tears as Sir Integra entered the room.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Still in a lot of pain," Maria answered as the heiress pulled a chair toward the bedside and sat down.

Integra's sharp blue eyes missed nothing. "What happened to your face?"

Maria's fingers flew up to where Alucard's fingers had been and winced when the feather-light touch ignited her flesh.

"Alucard isn't pleased with me," she said quietly.

"That bastard," she seethed. "It's a miracle you survived your injuries. How dare he hurt you further. Are you okay?"

Maria really wasn't sure. She bit down on her lip as he fought to hold back the fear and hopelessness that was clawing its way up her throat.

Her confession fell from her quivering lips. "I don't think I can handle him."

Integra's hard gaze turned soft for a few moments. "You have to handle him. It's your duty as queen to temper him."

"You can't tame something that wild."

"But you must," Integra said. "When the Hellsing family falls, he will be free of all fetters. It will fall on you and the Police Girl to see that he doesn't destroy everything."

"I'm nothing to him," she whispered, and despite her best efforts a few tears slid down her cheeks.

"Don't be foolish. Nothing could be further from the truth and you know it. He lavishes you with attention and gifts and allows you to do things he would slaughter others for. When he learned that you were facing Anderson he immediately demanded to go to you, but I forbade it. He would have decimated the whole countryside and started a holy war with the Vatican, such was his fury."

Maria didn't know what to say as she mulled over the blonde's words. It was true that Alucard spent an inordinate amount of time with her and had given her several fine gifts over the years. And he did certainly indulge her mischievousness so much that it surprised her at times. Maria had assumed that he did those things because she amused him, but perhaps he had a different reason.

Integra gave a tired sigh and rose to her feet. "Rest and read a book or something. Don't stew over this. I want you ready for duty in two week's time."

"Yes, Sir." Maria watched her leave the room and then closed her eyes. It was all too much to think about. Her relationship with Alucard had changed so much in these past few months and it had been too much, too fast. She longed for the simpler days, when he was just her friend who let her kill freaks with him.

She took Integra's advice and used her shadows to bring a book from the bookshelf along the wall to her and she propped the book open against her crooked legs. It was difficult at first, but after a few pages she was able to forget her troubles and immerse herself in the story. The clock read a quarter past three in the afternoon, so she figured she would be free from all distractions until the sun set at least.

She was taken aback, therefore, when there was yet another knock at her door an hour or so after Sir Integra's visit. Bernadotte stepped in, his hat in his hand.

"Maria, ma moitié," he beamed and sat himself down beside her. "How are you?"

The brunette closed her book and smiled up at him. "I hurt all over, but I'll be back on duty in two weeks."

He leaned back in the chair, looking relieved. "What I wouldn't give to be able to bounce back from something like that in less than a month."

"It's not without its drawbacks," she muttered.

If his eyes lingered on the fresh bruises from Alucard's fingertips on her temples, she ignored it. "I don't doubt it. Listen, you saved all our asses and you risked your life to do it. We don't forget that sort of thing."

"Anytime," she said honestly as gladness filled her heart and lifted it out of the murky waters it had sunken into. She had known from the moment she laid eyes on Pip that he was a good person. He would be perfect for Seras, for all of them. "How's Seras?"

"Hysterical," he said with an exasperated roll of his eyes. "Blaming herself for your injuries and being a right bitch during training."

"And your limericks about Eskimos have nothing to do with that?" Maria asked, an eyebrow cocked skeptically.

"It's the song of my people," he said defensively. "She's with a bunch of men day in day out-she's going to have to get used to that sort of thing. I mean, for a vampire she's awfully delicate."

A devious smirk curled Maria's lips. "You know that only virgins can be made into vampires, don't you?"

"Yeah, but she belongs to Alucard, doesn't she? Hasn't he plowed that soil?"

She shook her head. "He never created her with that in mind."

Maria didn't need to read his mind to know what he was imagining as his eyes glazed over a bit.

"Pip," she said firmly, and he jumped to attention at her voice with a slightly guilty look on his face. "She can't eat, but she likes to drink hot chocolate."

His brow creased in bewilderment. "Why are you telling me this?"

"As it stands, you have absolutely zero chance of getting into her pants," she said plainly. "You're French-doesn't romanticism just ooze out of you? Just put on a bit of charm."

The mercenary looked distinctly distrustful as he leaned closer to peer into Maria's emerald eyes. "Why are you trying to hook me up with your best friend?"

"You'd be good together," she admitted, and then added, "and I think a good lay is what she needs."

"You're all psychos here," he muttered, but his easy grin had returned. He rose to his feet and pulled out a single yellow rose from within his hat and tucked it behind her ear. "Merci, ma moitié," he said warmly.

"Du rien. Et n'oubliez pas le chocolat chaud."

He clutched at his heart as though he had been struck by lightning at her words and he laughed. "Tu parle français?"

"Just a smidgen," she smiled. "Thank you for the flower."

With a tip of his hat and a wave he left the room. Maria reached up and fingered the velvety petals of the rose, feeling a bit of warm happiness blooming within her. She had made a new friend, and with any luck gotten him and Seras a step closer. Doubt about her and Alucard still swirled about within her, but the hope Bernadotte had given her helped to chase it away for now.

No sooner had the sun set than Seras bounded into her room, demanding to know how she was feeling and apologizing profusely. Maria did everything she could to assure her friend that she was fine and that it hadn't been her fault, and the two of them chatted together for a while before she left for training. Walter brought her a meal of chicken soup and blood, and after drinking it all down Maria dozed off.

She awoke when she felt something stir beside her in bed, and when she opened her eyes she was met with Alucard's luminous red eyes in the near dark. He was beside her in his casual clothes, lying on his back with his head turned to her. He was staring at her very hard, as though he were trying to determine something. A bit of uneasiness rolled about in her stomach, but she didn't move away from him. She just returned his gaze, waiting for him to speak.

He extended a gloved hand and touched the yellow rose still behind her ear before cupping her cheek gently. His fingertips fell on the same spots as earlier, and she winced when the contact brought the pain back to life.

For the briefest of moments, some sort of emotion flitted across his countenance and he retracted his hand. "I injured you," he acknowledged.

She nodded.

His expression was as impassive as his tone was cold. "I can't guarantee it won't happen again."

Maria nodded again, even as something plummeted inside her at his words.

"That's why you must become strong," he continued. "So you can give and receive in kind. I want you to truly rule beside me, not be beneath me."

Her eyes widened in surprise as Sir Integra's earlier words floated back to her. Did Alucard want her to keep him in check as well?

He asked, "Do you fear me?"

"Of course I do. You're the No-Life King, and I'm just a girl. You can get rid of me whenever you get tired of me."

"There were others before you," he said quietly. "Women I thought could be my queen, but none of them had what it took. None of them had the fire and intellect that makes me want to ravish you and destroy you at the same time. To them, I was their monstrous captor intent on enslaving them for eternity. But you, my dear-you see me for what I am and yet you agree to walk this dark path with me. I could search the world a thousand times over and no one would hold a candle to you."

There was a fierce sincerity blazing in his crimson eyes and it struck a chord deep within Maria. How could see have imagined that she meant nothing to him? She couldn't have been more wrong.

He leaned in and kissed her, and Maria was surprised by the softness of his touch. Their kisses were always demanding and voracious; it was the first time he had ever shown her such gentleness and she immediately melted into it. Her body still ached, but she ran her fingers through his shaggy black hair as she let out a soft moan into their embrace.

"You're mine," he breathed against her lips, "for all eternity. I'll never relinquish my hold on you."

"Yes, yes," she said fervently. "I'll kill you if you ever try."

He chuckled low and dark, and seized her lips in a hungrier kiss that she hastened to return. He crawled on top of her, settling his legs between hers and propping himself up on his hands. Careful of her injuries, he made sure to keep from touching her as he leaned over and kissed her again. When he ground his erection against her hot core they both hissed in longing.

"I want to be your queen now," she begged as he sucked and nipped at her neck, teasingly close to breaking the skin. "I'm tired of the waiting."

"Do you remember what I told you the night we began the ritual? Vampires are creatures of vice. It's our greatest weakness. Don't lose your head."

Maria sighed and she felt him grin against her neck before he bit down. The pain was exquisite and she writhed against him, tugging on his hair and moaning as he lapped up her blood. He thrust his hips against her center in time with his suckling and Maria thought she would go mad from want.

Once he was sated, he pulled away from her neck and returned to her lips. He tasted of power and promise as he allowed her to bite down on his tongue. Maria drew his tongue into her mouth and sucked on it like she would another part of him, and he let out a wanton growl when he instantly made the parallel, his thrusts matching her pace.

His blood whisked away her pain and rejuvenated her. Though not entirely healed, the pain had died down to a tolerable ache. She took his face in her hands and pulled him flush against her as she kissed him lasciviously. Their clothes melted into the darkness and she let out a soft "oh!" when his bare flesh met hers. It was the first time his cock had been flush against her womanhood.

"You're going to kill me," she groaned as he ran his hard, cool length against her moist folds and swollen clit.

"Impalement always was my favorite," he grinned.

Maria couldn't help but giggle. He cut her laughter off by switching their positions in the blink of an eye, so that he was lying on his back and she was straddling his hips, pressed fully against his length. His hands were on her hips and he stared up at her with a fiery eagerness. She rocked against him, relishing the feel of him so close to the spot that craved him most. His chilled skin was a blessing to her, and as she settled into the position she began to rock against him faster. His hands on either hip guided her, slowing her down and speeding her up as he ground up against her.

"Can this be my throne?" she asked as she gyrated her hips down on him and he groaned.

"Naturally," he hissed and sat up, a hand going to the small of her back to press her against him as he nipped her lips and kissed her viciously. She continued rocking against him as she threaded her fingers through his waist-length locks. The pleasure was building within her and while she longed to have him sheathed deep within her, she resisted the urge and contented herself by sinking her fangs into his neck. The rich blood that welled up to greet her lips was an aphrodisiac and propelled her that much closer to release.

Alucard hissed her name as he crushed her to him, tucking his face into her curls as he began meeting her thrust for thrust. One of his hands held onto her ass tightly while another drifted between them and found her pearl of nerves. He swirled a masterful finger around it before pinching it lightly, and that coupled with the blood and the exquisite sensation of his cock rubbing her opening had stars bursting behind her eyes as the pleasure surged and crashed over her. He continued rutting against her as she clung to him desperately, and it was only a few moments later that with a groan he was spilling his seed all over her pussy and clit.

Her chest heaving, she broke away from Alucard's neck and shared a passionate, sated kiss. They lie down and he put an arm around her as she tucked into his side.

"My master has given us orders," he said presently.

Maria, who had been close to dozing off, forced her eyes open at his words. "What is it?"

He grinned down at her. "We're off to South America to find some Nazis."

"...What?"

Alucard explained that Integra had been invited to a meeting with Enrico Maxwell, head of the Iscariot Agency early that day. The Vatican had aided the escape of Nazis to South America during World War Two, and now the Last Battalion had reformed and was ready to start World War Three. It had been them who had sent the two vampires that decimated their men, as well.

"And so we're going to Brazil to find and kill them?" Maria asked.

He nodded, his eyes dancing with excitement at the prospect. "Police Girl, the Frenchman, you, and I are to leave as soon as you are healed."

While Alucard was looking forward to the slaughter, Maria was joyful for an entirely different reason. She had only ever left the Hellsing manor on missions, and while this would also be a mission, it would be her first time leaving the country.

"But how are you and Seras going to travel?" she asked. "We've got to cross an ocean."

He scoffed. "The ocean is no obstacle for me. The Police Girl will have to be in her coffin the entire time, though."

"And will I be okay? I'm already sensitive to sunlight and scripture."

"We'll find out."

Maria wasn't sure that she liked that answer.

"Also, I think it's high time that you stop using my hellhound as your pet. You're strong enough now that you can command the respect of your own familiar."

"But I really like Mr. Eyes,"she said sadly.

"It's a denizen of Hell, Maria. You're not supposed to like it."

She frowned. "I've known him all my life. He taught me how to phase and who knows how many times he's saved me. We can still play tag, right?"

He rolled his eyes at her petulance. "I had the dog bring you a familiar from Hell. Look."

Maria sat up as the six-eyed hellhound walked through the wall carrying something small and black in its teeth. It dropped the tiny bundle on the bed before her and then vanished again. She realized that it was a black kitten tiny enough to sit comfortably in the palm of her hand. it was currently curled up in a ball and appeared to be sleeping. Maria looked to Alucard, who just stared at her expectantly.

She stroked the cat's soft black fur and watched as it opened its bright red eyes to stare owlishly up at her.

"Hi," Maria said, smiling down hesitantly at it. She bit down on her finger hard enough to draw blood and she held the digit out before the familiar. "Join me and I promise you more than your share of chaos."

The cat nodded up to her, an uncanny intelligence sparkling in its gaze as it leaned forward to lap up the blood dripping from her finger. The moment the cat's tongue absorbed the first drop, Maria felt its presence in her mind much like the connection she had with Alucard. A new tendril had been created that linked her directly to this familiar, and the cat purred as it licked up the rest of her blood.

"Is it rude to call it cute?" she asked Alucard. "Being a denizen of Hell and all?"

Ignoring her, he lay back down and Maria continued stroking the black cat, which was now bathing itself boredly. It looked for all the world like a regular black kitten, if not for its bewitching eyes. Maria lay back down with her head in the crook of Alucard's shoulder and the kitten wasted no time in laying down across Maria's neck. Alucard gave it a contemptful look as he put a possessive hand on her hip.

"I hate cats," he muttered.

Maria chuckled as the cat began to purr, perhaps to spite the Nosferatu. "After seeing your hellhound, I sort of assumed that mine would be a bit more vicious looking."

"Your familiars grow stronger as you do."

That explained the difference, then. "Thank you," she said sincerely.

"Sleep. The war can't begin until you've healed."

* * *

Thanks to Alucard's daily transfusions, Maria was out of bed within the week and back to training with the men. They even went on a mission together to Warwickshire to take out a lesser vampire. Fortunately, there were no mad priests and everything went off without a hitch.

Walter had made all of the preparations for their journey to Brazil and it was an early Wednesday morning. It was the first time since the assault on the manor that Maria had seen the sunlight and she was taken aback by how glaringly bright it felt to her sensitive eyes. She wore a pair of black leggings under a short, flowing gray skirt and a burgundy turtleneck whose overly long sleeves helped to cover all of her extremities. Alucard wore a cream suit with black undershirt and red tie, his hair long yet tame. Maria had been delighted when he appeared in her room at sunrise in the modern attire and had instantly peeled it all off him.

Bernadotte's attire was his usual mercenary clothes, though he had assured Sir Integra that he had a suit in his carry-on bag that he would change into at the last moment. He tipped his hat to Maria upon her entrance with Alucard and Maria smiled back.

Alucard sat down on Seras' coffin even as the Draculina wailed from within, "Nooooo! Let me out!"

"It's your own fault for not drinking," her master said coldly.

"But I don't wanna be stuck inside this thing! It's so small and dark and…" she continued to whine.

Maria felt sorry for her friend but could do nothing for her. "It's twelve hours. If you fall asleep it'll be over before you know it."

" _Twelve hours?_ I'm gonna die! Let-me-out!"

"Shut up," Alucard commanded in a tone that brooked no resistance.

The draculina gave a whimper and fell silent immediately.

Sir Integra and Walter entered the room and Integra surveyed the scene with cool interest. Maria surmised that despite her usual poised appearance, she was actually quite apprehensive about what was to come.

When her eyes fell upon Seras' coffin she said, "There's no way that's getting through customs."

"There is no customs, ma'am," Walter said. "We'll be using a smuggling route to get them into the country."

"We've used them countless times before and they're always loyal so long as they're paid on time," Bernadotte explained.

Alucard added, "We've got to get the guns in as well, so we'll be putting them in my coffin. Two birds with one stone."

Integra took a puff from her cigar and took in Alucard's attire. "This is new. I thought that sunlight was one of the vampire's greatest enemies."

The vampire in question twirled his red-lensed spectacles about in his fingers, a smile on his lips. "If I board that plane in my red trench coat I may as well be a walking billboard for the enemy. Besides, the sunlight is no enemy of mine. I simply hate it."

Integra grinned and then looked to Maria, who was standing beside Alucard. "Don't overdo it, Maria. I'm getting tired of you constantly being on sick leave. And don't let him overdo it either."

Maria laughed. "I'll do my best, Sir."

Integra nodded and then turned back to Alucard. "You have only one order. Search and destroy."

The grin that curved the vampire's lips as he bowed to her was nothing short of zealous. "Yes, my Master."

Sir Integra and Walter saw them all off to the gates where a large van was waiting for them. Maria donned a wide-brimmed hat to shelter her face from the morning light and waved goodbye to them before getting in the van. Behind them were the two coffins. The heavily tinted windows were a reprieve to Maria, whose head was beginning to hurt from the brightness.

It was a half-hour drive from the manor to the small, regional airport. A modestly sized private plane was waiting for them on the runway and before long they were taking off. Maria sat beside Alucard, whose eagerness for battle was filtering through their mental connection and filling her with adrenaline. She drummed her fingers on the armrest impatiently as she chewed her lip. Bernadotte sat across from them, sprawling across the seat and taking in the fine fixtures of the first-class cabin.

"I'm flying first class to Brazil with a bunch of crazy vampires in search of even crazier Nazi vampires," he said slowly. "What did I do wrong with my life?"

"More like what did you do _right_ with your life," Maria grinned.

He just shook his head.

Alucard had procured a bottle of red wine and three glasses. He proffered one to each of them and raised his glass in a toast. "To war," he grinned.

They clinked their glasses and took a drink, though the Frenchman sniffed the drink warily before taking a sip. Maria couldn't blame him; she wouldn't put it past the Nosferatu to give him a glass full of blood just to see his face.

"We'll be crossing the ocean in a few moments," Alucard told her. "Brace yourself."

"How do I do that? What's it going to feel like?"

She didn't have to wait long to find out. Only a few moments later her body was wracked with pain, as though some invisible force was tugging her in every direction at once, intent on tearing her apart. With a groan, she wretched up her breakfast of blood and toast. A wave of Alucard's gloved fingers and the mess was gone, but Maria collapsed on the floor, curling in on herself. She was convinced that she would be ripped into a thousand pieces. It was a pain worse than any she had ever experienced.

"Maria, are you okay?" Bernadotte asked, crouching down beside her.

"Pathetic," Alucard muttered. "Maria, come here."

She wasn't sure if she could stand, but she managed to crawl over to him. He grabbed her by the arms and pulled her up onto his lap, where she immediately curled into a ball against his chest. His powerful presence somehow helped to lessen the pain, though only slightly.

He held a bleeding finger out to her and she took it into her mouth immediately. His blood eased the agony only slightly. She knew that while she would survive the flight, she would be next to useless for the next day at least.

Alucard seemed to realize this too, because he withdrew his finger from her mouth and tilted his head to the side, baring his neck to her. _Mulțumesc_ , she thanked him and wasted no time in sinking her fangs into his jugular. She let out a soft sound of relief as his cool blood met her tongue and the pain faded to a slight burn.

"She has fangs," Bernadotte remarked, trying to be conversational.

"Only when she feeds," the vampire said, taking another sip of wine. "She hides them so the humans don't fear her."

"After how she's saved our asses twice on missions now, I don't think the men would mind some pointy teeth."

"I told her something similar, but once a woman gets an idea in her head there's no changing it."

"I'll drink to that," Pip laughed.

Maria pulled away from his neck to shoot each man a reproachful glare. "I'm right here. Listening to everything you say."

"Hush," Alucard said, and mashed her face back to his neck.

Just to spite him, rather than drinking from the wound she had created a few moments earlier she bit him again, sinking her fangs in deep.

She felt his cock give a twitch beneath her and amusement dripped from his words in her mind. _You should know by now that pain is no punishment for me._

With an irritated huff she resumed drinking in silence. Once she had drunk her fill, she pulled away and rested her head against his neck. The three of them chatted for a few hours until the mercenary yawned and headed to the other end of the plane to get some rest.

"You should sleep too," Alucard said to her.

Maria was fine with that; the pain had worn her out and she wasn't used to being awake during the day. She relaxed in his lap, tucking her head into the crook of his neck. She could feel his broad palm on her side holding her to him. His body relaxed almost imperceptibly as he slipped into slumber, and Maria followed.

* * *

 **A/N:** When I write, I write the entire story without any chapters because I don't want anything arbitrarily breaking the flow of my writing. Having finished the story and finally breaking it into chapters, I can see that I overuse sleep as a way to end an event. I would like to tell you that sleep is a deep symbol directly relevant to the theme of this story, but you and I both know that would be bullshit of the finest grade.

Stay tuned for the next chapter, which is one of my favorites! Finally get to see a little Seras/Pip action. :3


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Hello, hello. I hope you enjoy this chapter and the long-awaited Seras/Pip development. Also, there's a bit of French in here and my two years of high school French tell me it's wrong, but it's what Google Translate had to offer. So, désolé.

* * *

She awoke when Alucard said her name. A glance out the window revealed a nighttime urban sprawl of gray buildings and garish lights and she rejoiced to be over land again. She got off the vampire's lap and took her seat beside him once more. Bernadotte was sitting across from dressed in a nice suit eating a sandwich.

"You clean up well," Maria told him.

He put on a pained expression. "The very moment I get checked into my hotel I'm changing."

She chuckled as she took a turkey sandwich from the tray beside Pip. The reality of their mission was finally sinking in, and she was so anxious that she could barely sit down. Her excitement must have passed through their bond, because Alucard gave her a knowing smirk.

Her familiar appeared on her lap and meowed demandingly. "Good evening to you too," Maria smiled and gave it the turkey from her sandwich. It scarfed it down in one bite and then climbed up her chest to nuzzle its face against hers. Maria stroked it and scratched its neck.

"That is the worst familiar I've ever seen," Alucard said loathingly, regarding the purring kitten with unbridled contempt.

"Oh, just because she's not some gigantic monster doesn't mean she can't be fierce," Maria said unconcernedly. "You said they grow more powerful with their masters, right? Your hellhound looks terrifying because you're terrifying. But I can still pass as a sweet innocent little girl when I want to."

"There's nothing innocent about you," he said and then added smugly, "I've made sure of that." His frown turned into an irritated snarl when the cat crawled up her chest and rested on her ample bosom, purring as it curled up to sleep.

As realization dawned on Maria a devious smirk grew on her lips. "Don't tell me the great No Life King himself is jealous of a little kitten."

The look he gave her was pure acid as he grated out, "Of course not, you foolish girl. I simply don't like it when something else dares to claim ownership of something that's mine."

Maria was thoroughly unconvinced, but nodded and continued eating her cheese and lettuce sandwich. The cat had become a constant fixture in her nightly routine in the past week, appearing after sunset and staying by Maria's side until sunrise. Alucard ignored its presence until it came time to sleep and the cat would without fail drape itself over her neck, when he would make his displeasure known with a fanged scowl. Undoubtedly the vampire took this as a direct challenge, as her neck was his favorite place to drink from. When the kitten lay over her heart it was clearly doing so in a protective manner. But to Alucard, who coveted each heartbeat, it was an insult.

Suddenly Alucard's hand was on her arm and he pulled her roughly to him. She landed clumsily on his lap, straddling his hips. The kitten had been tossed off her in the jostle and meowed angrily before sauntering off. Alucard ignored it and tilted Maria's chin up before biting into her neck and lapping up the blood that spilled forth as he squeezed one of her breasts ruthlessly.

"Yeah, you're totally not jealous," Maria hissed sarcastically, pleasure coursing through her.

He growled and ground his hips against her in response before giving her a possessive, greedy kiss that she returned vigorously as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'll uh...I'll go check on Seras, then."

Maria had completely forgotten about Bernadotte, who was making a beeline for the back of the plane where the police girl's coffin was. Abashed, she pulled away from Alucard and gave him a reproachful look.

Alucard merely chuckled. _The Frenchman's imagination is going wild right now,_ he grinned, _envisioning what it would be like if the Police Girl were as forward._

 _You devil, you,_ Maria giggled. _So you're going to help me get them together?_

 _He would be suitable for her._

She kissed him again and then went back to sitting on her own seat. The kitten stared up at her for a bit as though debating whether it was worth the effort before jumping back to her chest and curling up to nap. Having freshly re-established his dominance, Alucard ignored the cat and drank another glass of wine.

Bernadotte returned after a few more minutes and looked relieved to see that they were keeping their hands to themselves. In tow was Seras, who had deep dark circles under her eyes and looked overall terrible.

"Pleasant flight, Police Girl?" Alucard asked, smirking.

She glowered at him but said nothing. Maria beckoned to her and she sat down on the floor between the brunette's legs. The vampire's hair was crazy, so Maria smoothed it out with her fingers and returned it to its usual look.

"Thanks," Seras said, and then went to sit beside the mercenary. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine. It was a bit rough at first, but I adjusted. What about you?"

"I'll survive," she muttered darkly, obviously still upset about being nailed into the dark, cramped coffin for so long.

They touched down and made it to the hotel without any issues, though Alucard had to enthrall the reception to make sure their luggage made it up to their room.

"What the fuck did he just do to that woman?" the mercenary whispered to Maria and Seras. "Like some black magic sex beam or something?"

"It was mind control," Maria chuckled.

"Can you do it too?"

"Seras can't, and I've never had occasion to try it out. Maybe though."

He shivered and then went back to ordering the bellboys carrying the two coffins. The girls followed them up to the penthouse suite on the topmost floor, which was one of the most opulent things Maria had ever seen. Complete with a sitting room, bedroom, and bathroom, it was basically a lavishly furnished apartment.

"I don't believe this! Discrimination is what this is! We're staying in a dump on the edge of town! Fucking bourgeoisie," he exclaimed.

"Dumps have their own charm," Alucard said.

"Oh, is _that_ so?" he asked sarcastically.

They exchanged words for a bit longer and then he and Seras left for their hovel on the outskirts of town. Maria felt a bit guilty watching them go.

"I wonder how the Police Girl will react when she learns that there's only one bed in their room," Alucard remarked, a mischievous smirk on his lips.

Maria laughed. "I can't believe you. Please tell me you'll let me see her face when she finds out."

"For a price."

"Oh? How much?"

His shadows had creeped up her legs and were pulling her towards the bedroom, where he stood waiting. She rose to her tiptoes to give him a promising kiss, and with a dark chuckle he closed the door behind them.

* * *

The cab ride across town to their hotel was quiet, as neither Seras nor Bernadotte had much to say. Seras was looking out the windows, taking in everything. Like Maria, she had never left England before and was fascinated by even the most banal things. Pip had been to Sao Paulo on several occasions, and really all the slums of the world seemed to blend into one another after a point. He puffed on a cigarette boredly.

Their hotel was about as ramshackle as they came. It was three stories with chipping stucco and small windows. It was surrounded by equally rundown buildings. A green grocer's, convenience store, and a taqueria were the only businesses nearby.

Pip paid the driver, said a quick, "Obrigado," and got out of the car, hefting their duffel bags full of guns and ammo. He led the police girl into the hotel and spoke briefly with the receptionist, a balding and overweight man in his forties who looked like the last thing he wanted to do was interact with people, before getting the key and heading up the narrow stairs to the third floor.

Seras took in their small room and tried to tell herself that it wasn't atrocious, it was... _quaint._ This was hard to do after having seen the lavish suite Alucard and Maria had to themselves, though. The one window opposite the door was small and had bars on it. The lampshade had a hole in it and was crooked, and on a battered dresser was a television that was at least thirty years old. The shower was rudimentary, but would suffice.

"Wait...there's only one bed," she said to the Frenchman, who had placed their bags on the small twin and was checking their weapons.

"Yeah. I can't believe how stingy Hellsing is," he snorted.

"We can't...we can't get another one?"

Pip looked up from his pistol, green eye twinkling playfully. "Don't worry, I won't bite. That's what you vampires do, isn't it?"

Seras glared at him and crossed her arms.

 _Maria, did you have any idea about this?_ she asked irately.

 _About what?_

 _About the fact that while you and Master are enjoying the best room money can buy_ I'm _slumming it in a hovel, and I've got to share a tiny little bed with that pervert!_

Maria sounded contrite. _I'm sorry to hear that. It'll be nice to share a bed with someone though, won't it? I'm sure he'll be nice to cuddle up against._

 _I hate you,_ Seras seethed. _There will be absolutely_ no _cuddling._

 _Why do you deny yourself? Just enjoy yourself a bit._

 _Ugh, you sound just like Master._

 _I'm just saying, he's a decent guy,_ Maria continued matter-of-factly.

 _Look, I don't want to be rude but I can't put much stock in who you think is decent. You_ do _know who it is you're shacking up with, right? The guy gets a thrill out of dismembering people._

Maria's laugh was nearly as sinister as Alucard's. _Oh, he's got his soft spots. He gave me a familiar the other day. And have you ever seen how long his tongue can get? You wouldn't_ believe _the things he can do with it-_

 _I'm gonna be sick. Please just leave me alone._

The brunette laughed again. _Tata for now, then. Try to have some fun, though. This is a vacation._

 _This. Is. A. Mission,_ Seras ground out. Honestly, sometimes it was alarming just how similar Maria could be to the No Life King.

The vampiress looked over to the mercenary, who was sitting at the foot of the bed intent on cleaning his pistol. From this angle, all she could see was his eyepatch and a slight frown as he stared down the barrel. He certainly _was_ good-looking, in that rough-and-tumble sort of way. And though half the things he said were filthy, the other half were kind and smart. He was an excellent leader and had garnered the respect of each and every member of the Wild Geese, and when it came time for a mission he was always professional.

There were certainly worse men she could take interest in.

Seras shook her head to dispel the errant thought and sat down near the head of the bed to inspect her own rifle.

"I'm going to make a run to the convenience store. Do you want anything?" he asked.

"I'm fine, thanks."

He shrugged and stood up. Seras watched as he took off his white suit jacket and tossed it carelessly to the floor before going to undo his belt buckle, but he froze the moment his fingertips touched the brass. A few moments later he growled in irritation and grabbed a change of clothes from his bag before marching off to the bathroom. Seras heard him mutter, "Poutres de sexe et de voix. J'ai besoin d'un meilleur salaire."

"Huh?" she asked.

"Nothing, nothing," he said quickly, waving her away.

Seras gave a shrug and went back to cleaning her rifle. Bernadotte emerged from the bathroom a couple minutes later in a pair of worn jeans and a band t-shirt. She found herself surprised by how he still managed to look handsome even in such casual clothes, and then quickly squashed that thought.

"Sure you don't want anything?" he checked.

Seras gave him a kind smile. "No, I'm good. Thanks, though."

He held up a hand in farewell and left. Seras put down her firearm and threw herself back onto the mattress as she let out a long exhale. She had the inescapable feeling that this mission was going to be the most dangerous one yet.

* * *

In their penthouse suite in the center of the city, Maria and Alucard were sprawled out on the queen sized silk sheets laughing at Seras' plight.

"I wish I had some popcorn," Maria said as she sipped a glass of wine. "This is ten times better than a movie."

Alucard chuckled beside her. "There is room service."

She gave him a disapproving look. "This room must cost a fortune as it is. I can't imagine Sir Integra will be pleased if we rack up a massive room service bill. How much did this bottle of wine cost?"

He waved her spoilsport words away, the phone already to his ear. "Yes, some popcorn please." He looked over to her. "Butter, kettle, or caramel?"

Maria bit her lip, trying hard to resist, but then caved and said, "Kettle corn, please."

He hung up the phone and looked at her with a playful gleam in his crimson eyes. "You're so easily swayed."

"Kettle corn is my greatest weakness," she admitted guiltily as she stood up to slide on a black silk robe.

"Hurry back. The Frenchman is due to return any minute."

* * *

Seras was flipping boredly through all three channels on the tv when Bernadotte returned with a brown paper bag, a cigarette dangling from his lips. Seras had taken advantage of the time alone to take a quick shower and change into her pajamas: cotton shorts and an old yellow t-shirt with a smiling cartoon sun in the center. She was regretting this choice now, as the shorts were quite short and the t-shirt overly large, making it appear as though she weren't wearing anything below the waist. She hadn't expected that she'd be sharing a room with the man, let alone a small bed, and she hadn't brought another change of pajamas.

His gaze lingered on her for a few moments longer than necessary but then he came back to himself, locking the door behind him and setting the bag on the dresser. He pulled out a six-pack of beer, a couple sandwiches, some chips, and a paper coffee cup with steam rising out of the lid.

"Here," he said as he offered it to her. "It's hot chocolate."

She looked from the cup to him in surprise. "I told you I didn't need anything."

"Sure, but I'd feel guilty eating in front of you if you didn't have anything, so…"

Touched by his unexpected thoughtfulness, Seras reached out for the cup and her fingers fell upon his. They were rough and warm, nearly as warm as the hot chocolate. She took the drink and sipped from it.

"It's good. Thank you," she said, giving him a tentative smile.

He grinned back easily at her as he opened a can of beer and took a swig. "Anything good on tv?"

"Not really. Looks like there's a telenovela, though."

The mercenary took off his boots and sat down on the bed beside Seras, resting his back against the headboard. He took the remote from between them and switched the channels until he came to the telenovela, in which a buxom blonde beauty seemed deeply upset with a tall dark and handsome man.

"Do you understand Portuguese?" she asked presently.

"Just swear words and military jargon. Do you?"

"No," she smiled, and they both laughed a bit before going back to watching the tv, though neither of them were really paying attention to it. Seras couldn't help but think about the heat that was radiating off his body, which was only a few inches away from her. The sun would be rising in about an hour. Maybe she could scoot a bit closer to him, just lean on his shoulder a bit-

She forced herself to take a sip of hot chocolate and forget that stupid idea. They were professionals, they were on a mission, and she just knew that if she gave him an inch he would take a mile.

Seras chewed on her lip as she wavered. She knew that she needed to resist her urges to get closer to Bernadotte, but she could feel her resolve loosening the longer he sat so close to her. _Maria, what do I do?_ she asked desperately.

The brunette's voice flitted into her mind, sounding a bit distracted. _You already know what I think you should do._

 _Yeah, but I shouldn't do what you told me._

 _Then why are you asking me?_

Seras sighed inwardly. _I don't trust him to know when to draw the line._

 _Oh, he will._ Maria's words were a dark guarantee that made Seras wonder if Maria was in cahoots with Bernadotte as well. She remembered how the mercenary had been about to strip in front of her earlier and had stopped abruptly, muttering angrily in French.

She asked slowly, _You're not talking to him too, are you?_

 _Of course not,_ was Maria's serious reply. _I would never betray your trust like that. Now if you don't mind, we just discovered that room service has chocolate sauce and-_ She gave a yelp and giggle. _-Alucard is insistent that we have it all used up by sunrise._

Seras went beet red as the image of her master licking chocolate off her friend flashed unbidden before her eyes and she quickly ended the conversation. Honestly, considering that they were on the brink of war she expected at least Maria to be a little less flippant about the whole thing.

She glanced over at Bernadotte, who was only half-awake and beginning to nod off beside her. Maybe, she thought as she watched him relax against the headboard, maybe she could afford to be a bit flippant herself tonight.

Anxious and not at all sure of herself, Seras leaned over a bit and tentatively rested her head on his shoulder. She felt him tense up for a brief moment before relaxing again and he put an arm around her, his strong hand coming to rest on her side. He was just as warm and comfortable as she had imagined. She waited for his hand to crawl up to her breasts or for him to make some dirty one-liner, anything to ruin the moment, but he seemed content to merely have her close.

"Shall we sleep, ma cherie?" he asked presently.

Nodding, she pulled away from him to get under the thin blankets. He gave an exaggerated yawn and stretch before standing up to take off his jeans. Seras blushed as he got back into bed in only his boxers and a t-shirt and instantly thought that this was where he would take things too far. She was pleasantly surprised, therefore, when he lay on his side facing her and apologized for his clothes.

"I didn't think we'd be sharing a bed, so I didn't bring any pajamas," he said sheepishly.

"No, that's fine," Seras said. "I made the same mistake."

"Good night, then," he said with a soft smile, and then rolled over to give her privacy.

It was startling just how badly she wanted the mercenary to turn around to face her again, and just how much she wanted to be touching him again. Despite the muggy heat of Sao Paulo, she craved his warmth. As she heard his heartbeat slow and he drifted off, Seras warred with herself. To touch, or not to touch. She thought back to Maria's words.

 _To hell with it,_ she decided, and scooted closer to put an arm around Bernadotte and press herself against his back. He stirred slightly and then took her chilled hand in his larger, warmer one. As his body heat spread through her cold body she thought she could melt from the pleasure.

* * *

Maria gave a whoop of delight while Alucard wore an irritated scowl.

"I told you it'd work! I told you they'd be perfect!" she crowed to him.

"I've never been more bored in my life," he complained, "and this means nothing. Simply lying with a woman doesn't mean that you care for her."

Maria rolled her eyes as she pet her familiar, which was stretched across her neck and purring loudly. Alucard regarded the cat with contempt but said nothing as it batted its tail against his bare chest. He had certainly established his domain over her tonight.

"Trust me," Maria said confidently, "this is the start of something great. Besides, it's fun to watch them fall in love. It makes me feel happy."

"Love," Alucard said, as though it tasted sour. "Is it something that you desire?"

"If by 'love,' you mean the traditional wooing and flowers, no. But if you mean respect and devotion, then yes."

"Sleep," he said impatiently, his gloved fingers drumming against her nude hip. "I have a feeling that things are going to pick up tomorrow."

Worry nipped at her insides at his words. Though they had treated the night as though they were on holiday, the reality that they were on a gravely important mission hadn't left the back of Maria's mind. Now it was at the forefront, and she wondered just what the morrow would bring.

* * *

Seras awoke feeling warm, safe, and more well-rested than ever before. She opened her eyes slowly to find that the reason for said warmth was the fact that the mercenary had at some point rolled around in the night and wrapped his arms around her. Her head was nestled against his strong chest and he had one leg between hers. Her initial reaction was to panic, but when she realized that while their bodies were flush against one another, his hands were safely on her back and he wasn't trying to feel her up, she relaxed.

Until she moved a bit and he responded in turn in his sleep by pressing his hips against hers. With a shock, she felt his hard length against her crotch and it was all she could do not to shove him away. She had been constantly surrounded by men ever since she decided to enter the Police Academy; she was no stranger to the concept of morning wood. It was, however, her first time witnessing it and the feelings it was eliciting in her were...bewildering. She wanted to shove him away, but she also wanted to pull him closer to feel that burning heat even better.

She tried to extricate herself from his hold, but he proved to be quite tenacious even when sleeping. When she attempted pulling her leg free, he moved forward with her. His arm was also wrapped tightly around her, so she couldn't easily pull her chest away either. She could of course use her superhuman strength, but she wanted to do this with as little embarrassment as possible. After a few futile attempts, she gave a soft sigh of defeat and resigned herself to waiting for him to wake up or roll away.

Respiration was an option for the draculina, yet it was still something she found herself doing out of habit. She took a long inhale against his chest and his scent filled her senses. It was a very manly smell of gunpowder and hard work, and she discovered that it was addicting. But she wanted to smell it at its source.

She moved up in his hold, so that her face was against his exposed neck. Here, at his pulsepoint, the scent was strongest. Seras ghosted her nose along his smoothe flesh as she reveled in his scent. His heartbeat had accelerated slightly, and she pulled away to glance up at him, but his eyes were closed and expression blissful as he slept on. She went back to taking in his smell and each beat of his heart. She could practically feel the blood pumping through his jugular just beneath the skin. Lost in the sensations, she opened her mouth and ran her elongated fangs along his flesh with a feather-light touch. She wondered what it would feel like to puncture his skin, to feel his warm, sweet blood well up to meet her eagerly waiting tongue.

"Breakfast in bed?" Bernadotte asked quietly, sounding amused.

The sound of his voice snapped Seras out of whatever trance she had fallen into and she immediately whipped away to look up at him embarrassedly. He was bleary-eyed but at ease despite the fact that she had nearly drunk from him.

"I-I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I didn't mean to-you just smell really nice and you're so warm and-"

"Ma cherie, I know you wouldn't have," he said, a warm confidence smouldering in his olive eye. "But I'm glad to see that this isn't as one-sided as I had feared."

Had he just said what she thought he just said? "W-what?"

Suddenly, his lips were on hers in a soft and gentle kiss. It was so abrupt that Seras didn't have time to react, and then he was pulling away to gauge her expression. He must have liked what he saw, because he leaned in for another kiss and his tongue danced along her lips as it sought permission. Seras hesitated only for a moment before opening her mouth to him and she couldn't help a small gasp when he claimed her mouth in her first kiss. It was as tender as it was sincere, and she found herself placing a hand on his neck as she tilted her head into his touch and hesitantly joined him in this new dance.

He broke the kiss much too soon for her liking, giving her an easy smile that was infectious. "That's how we say good morning in France," he quipped.

Seras just smiled up at him, completely under his spell. "That's much better than the British way."

He rolled onto his back and gave a mighty stretch, yawning. He sat up and reached for his cigarettes on the nightstand. "Let's get dressed and head out to meet Alucard and Maria."

Nodding, Seras stood up and went into the bathroom with a change of clothes and hopped into the shower.

 _Maria, I kissed him!_ she exclaimed, unable to contain her excitement.

Her friend sounded ecstatic. _Congratulations! So how was it? Give me all the details._

So she did, from how she had fallen asleep with an arm around him to how she had just had the best first kiss she could have asked for.

 _Ooh, you're so lucky! I sorta wish my first kiss had been like that._

 _What was yours like?_

 _Kinda like Shark Week. Bloody and ravenous._

Seras cringed. _I don't even know what possessed me to ask._

Maria gave a laugh. _We might be able to start swapping stories soon, huh? Our girls' nights will be so much more livelier!_

 _I_ really _don't want to hear about what you and my Master get around to. I bet it's really weird stuff._

 _Eh, we're pretty vanilla for now. The whole "have to be a virgin" thing is really putting a damper on freakiness._

 _Eww, please stop._

 _Don't you find it ironic that you're the vampire and I'm the mortal, yet you're ten times more of a prude than I am?_

 _Shut up,_ Seras snapped without any bite as she rinsed the conditioner from her hair. _You're a terrible friend._

 _I'm a wonderful friend. How dare you slander me,_ she said, feigning deep offense.

Seras couldn't help but laugh. _Yeah, whatever. We're going to get ready and head your way. Expect us in an hour._

 _Roger that. See you soon._

Seras finished washing up and then got dressed in a spare Wild Geese uniform. It felt odd not wearing her standard Hellsing uniform, but they were supposed to be there in secret. The khaki uniform fit her well, though, and after giving herself a quick once-over in the cracked mirror she stepped out of the bathroom. Pip was watching the evening news with his mouth open in shock.

"What?" Seras asked, and was shocked to see a news report that featured photos of Maria and Alucard. She didn't have to understand Portuguese to know the meaning of the word "terroristos" and "fortemente armados."

"They're sending in an squat team," Bernadotte said, pointing to the live feed of the heavily armed men going through the halls and up to the top floor. "Better let them know. We've gotta hurry."

Seras shoved her couple belongings into the duffel bag with her guns, holstering a .45 handgun at her side. She couldn't go running through the streets with her usual tactical rifle.

 _Looks like they've figured out who you guys are. They've got your pictures on the news and they're sending soldiers in. Get ready._

 _Yeah, they cut the power a few minutes ago,_ Maria said calmly. _They're just human soldiers, though. Shouldn't be a problem._

 _Alright. We're heading your way on the double._

' _Kay. You two should be careful. If they've figured out who we are, then-_

With her sixth sense Seras felt someone standing on the other side of the hotel door, and out of instinct she knocked Bernadotte to the ground behind the bed. Not a moment too soon, either, because half a second after that there was a spray of machine gun fire and bullets peppered the bed and walls.

"Merde," Pip snarled, drawing out his revolver. "They got the drop on us too, then."

Five men in full riot armor burst into the room and both of them wasted no time in firing off several headshots. It was over in a few moments.

Pip leapt over the bed and began tearing off the clothing of one of the men. Seras looked at him like he had lost his mind until he paused to look up at her and explain, "These poor bastards have no idea what they're getting themselves into. We've got to get to their command center and kill the dispatchers. Until we do that, they're just going to keep sending in people for Alucard to slaughter like cattle. And the only way we're going to be able to get that close is to blend in. Get changed."

Seras was honestly amazed by his shrewdness. Thanks to her several years in Hellsing, she knew nearly every tactic for hunting ghouls and vampires. But when it came to the machinations of man, she was still clueless. The mercenary had already stripped one man of his uniform and was undressing himself. Seras blushed and looked away, focusing on taking off the uniform of the smallest soldier there and changing into it as quickly as possible. She could feel Bernadotte's eye on her as she shimmied into the cargo pants, but said nothing. Now wasn't the time for bickering.

Fully dressed, she turned to the perverted man, who held a black ski mask out to her. It was just like the soldiers' only without a bullet hole.

"Always keep a couple spares," he grinned.

She took it from him and slid it on. They grabbed their bags, a couple of the soldiers' machine guns, and then dashed for the military issue Jeep still idling outside the hotel. Bernadotte leapt into driver and Seras took passenger.

"Let's go earn our paycheck," he said, and then stepped on the gas with relish.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well? What did you think? I must admit, I love the juxtaposition of the tumultuous and vicious relationship between Maria and Alucard and the innocent, sweet relationship of Pip and Seras. They're just so cute together.

Also, get ready for a bejeezus amount of action in the next chapter. Buckets of blood and entrails. Kilowattss of devious laughter. Gallons of explosions.

Poutres de sexe et de voix. J'ai besoin d'un meilleur salaire=Sex beams and voices. I need a better salary.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** Oh man, this was one of my favorite parts to write, though it was challenging. You'll see that there are actual lines from the manga within, but they won't be word for word because I'm living in Japan and only have the Japanese version which I am translating. Enjoy!

* * *

Maria had been reading when the power suddenly went out and the room went dark. She closed her book and stood up, her familiar looking about warily from its perch on her shoulder.

Alucard glided into the sitting room, his shadows dancing about wildly in their excitement. The fires of hell were dancing behind his crimson eyes as he said, "Now, it's time for war."

The brunette tossed her book to the side and fetched both her guns and her greatsword. She wasn't sure if it was her eagerness or his that was making her fingertips tremble. This was it. The beginning of the war that Alucard so craved. The beginning of uncertainty and fear.

"You'll come to revel in the massacre," the No Life King assured her, his grin feral.

"I don't mind killing if I have to, but I'd rather it not be anyone innocent."

"No one is innocent in this world."

She fixed him with a hard stare. "That's not what I mean, and you know it."

He ignored her, which was just as well because Seras' voice entered her head. She told Maria about the news and the squat team. When Seras didn't reply and their connection was severed, she assumed that she and Pip had encountered some of the opposition as well. No one was better at what they did than the two of them though, so she was unconcerned.

"Hide in that wardrobe," Alucard ordered.

"Planning to hog them all?" she teased.

He gave her a cold, almost challenging stare. "I can kill humans without an ounce of remorse. Can you?"

Maria bit down on her lip and wordlessly crawled into the tall wardrobe along the wall. She sat down with her arms wrapped around her knees. Her familiar sat daintily on her knees, looking through the wardrobe doors.

She could hear the men approaching. Six of them in heavy armor, by the sounds. Her third eye allowed her to see through the oaken door of the wardrobe and into the dark sitting room, which appeared empty except for the furniture and Alucard's coffin by the far window. The vampire himself wasn't visible but she could sense his dark, heavy presence in the air. He was lying in wait for the men, barely able to contain his glee. Maria couldn't recall the last time he'd killed something other than a ghoul or vampire, and she was fairly certain that he was elated to have an excuse to kill humans.

Maria pitied these fated men. They had no idea what they were getting themselves into and their superiors likely didn't either. Alucard would slaughter them without batting an eye. Their lives would end as effortlessly as a candle extinguished by a breeze, and with as much fanfare.

The six men burst into the room, guns at the ready. They spread through the room in search of of the two of them, but of course found neither. Maria watched with bated breath as they approached Alucard's coffin, nudging at the cloth covering it with the barrels of their guns. There was nothing in this world more precious to him than that, his last domain. They had been doomed the moment they entered this room, but they had sealed their fates when they dared touch what was his.

"Get away from my coffin," he commanded. Backlit by the moonlight, he loomed over them as a menacing, black shadow that positively reeked of malice.

The men wavered, their hearts pounding in their chests as they wondered where he had come from. When they didn't back away from the coffin Alucard issued the same command in a voice that promised retribution, but with a yell the men all opened fire at once on him. Maria could only watch as the bullets shredded him, reducing him to indistinguishable lumps of flesh.

They talked amongst themselves in Portuguese for a bit and then dispersed to search for her. Maria took her gun into her hand in preparation, but it was unnecessary.

"Dogs."

The men all swirled around in shock to Alucard's corpse. His blood was flowing back into him, bits of flesh and cloth reattaching and smoothing as he rose to his feet.

"A valiant attempt. But no dog can defeat me. It's always man that destroys a monster."

He tossed his head back, sending his wild mane of black hair out of his face, the moonlight behind him casting him in shadows but for his luminescent, hungry crimson eyes. The men were riveted to the ground in terror, and they were right to be. Maria herself couldn't stop the tremors in her hands.

He moved faster than the human eye could see, his jaws open wide and lined with nothing but sharp, vicious teeth. He seized a soldier by the neck and in a moment had beheaded him, throwing his corpse up into the air as blood rained down. A slash of his gloved hand and he had cut another soldier in half, and with another had ripped another two into shreds. They were paper dolls to him, and he grinned crazily as he stalked after the last remaining survivor, who was whimpering as he backed away towards the entrance. He desperately tried the door and let out a scream of panic when he realized that it was locked.

"It won't open," Alucard said, mirth dripping from his deep voice as he dropped a drained corpse to the ground. He grinned as the soldier slunk down side of the door, quivering like a rabbit before a wolf.

"Y-you're a monster!" the man cried.

"Yes," he smiled as ruby-red blood dripped down the corner of his mouth and he descended upon the man. "And what does that make you? A dog? A man? A monster?"

He watched in fascination as the man took a semi-auto into his hand, but then his expression turned to one of righteous disgust when the soldier pressed the barrel to his temple and pulled the trigger. So enraged was he that he threw a kick at the man, putting his foot clear through his skull as if it had been no more substantial than an eggshell.

"Alright. You can come out," he said, his animosity still bleeding into his voice.

But Maria was too petrified to move. All she could do was clutch her familiar to her in horror as she tried her hardest to keep the tears at bay. She had seen him tear into ghouls and vampires in a similar fashion. She had seen him take pleasure in the destruction and death. She herself had done the same. But she had never seen him treat humans like _that._ Like they were just as insignificant as trash. Once she reached his level of power, would she come to see humans as insects as well? Would she view them as callously as he? These people had families that would never see them again; he had exterminated them like roaches, and for what? His own fleeting amusement?

Alucard opened the wardrobe and she stared up at him with unbridled fear in her emerald eyes. He still looked wild, his hair long and clothes drenched in blood and entrails.

"You're frightened," he stated coolly, his expression blank.

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak without blubbering.

His shadows swarmed over him briefly and in their wake his body was ridden of all the bloody detritus. He reached for her with a gloved hand, but she involuntarily flinched away from him, her familiar hissing in her arms. A scowl crossed his face and he grabbed her roughly by the neck of her sweater to yank her out of the closet and to her feet. Her familiar yowled and scratched at his gloved hand but he ignored it.

"This is what war is," he bit out. "They came to destroy us, to murder us. They came to be destroyed and murdered by us. War is a gamble, and one side always draws a losing card. We had the stronger hand, and that's all there is to it. No one can change that-not God, not the Devil, not me, and not you."

"I get that, but...they were just humans," she whispered, trying to keep her voice even. "You didn't have to… You didn't have to do it like that."

He shoved her away from him, looking disgusted. Whether he was disgusted with her or with himself was unclear as he said quietly, "That's why you will become my queen."

Maria didn't understand what that had to do with anything of this. She could only stare up at him in confusion as he turned his back to her and readied his guns.

Shaking herself, she holstered her gun and picked up her familiar, which was staring hatefully at the vampire. She did her best not to look at the carnage as she waited for him and mulled it all over.

"Alucard," she said slowly, and he turned to look at her. It took courage to look him in the eyes after what she had just witnessed him commit. "You asked me earlier if I could kill humans without remorse. If I know that their death by my hands will be more merciful than by yours, I can and will do it."

He gave her a smile that was soft and genuine. "I know," he said, and then held out his hand. "Call Integra."

Perplexed, Maria took her phone out of her pocket and dialed the direct line to Sir Integra's desk before passing the smartphone to him. He abhorred any technology invented after 1900, so refused to carry one. Of course, what with his powers he had little need for one anyways. Maria listened as he worked Integra up into a righteous tempest and then hung up, laughing.

"Oh but she makes my blood boil," he grinned, tossing the phone back to Maria.

Maria just rolled her eyes as she pocketed the smartphone. She wondered why he had bothered to have Integra repeat her orders. Did he like testing her? Did he like implicating her?

"Tell the Police Girl and the Frenchman to steal a helicopter," he said suddenly.

"W-what? How are they going to do that?"

"They'll figure something out."

It was times like these that Maria remembered that this was a king she was speaking to. A man who was used to making demands and expecting the results regardless of what was possible and impossible.

 _How are you two doing?_ she asked them both.

 _Ma moitie, tres bien! We've stolen one of the military's jeeps and we're enroute to take out the dispatch station. ETA fifteen minutes. How are you and the vampire?_

 _Oh, y'know. Blood-soaked and ready for more._

 _I can't tell whether you've just done the nasty or killed some poor bastards._

Maria laughed out loud while Seras chastised him. _The latter, unfortunately. Listen, Alucard wants you to steal a helicopter. We're gonna have to get the coffins out of here somehow._

 _A helicopter?_ Seras exclaimed. _How does he expect us to do that? He's insane!_

Bernadotte was unfazed by the vampire's outlandish demand. _Tell him not to worry. We'll get our hands on one._

 _Thanks. We're off to check out, I think. See you at the front doors._

 _Okay._ It took a second for her words to fully register with the Frenchman and he exclaimed, _Wait, what?! There's a sea of press and soldiers out front. Are you guys serious?_

 _Integra's orders,_ Maria shrugged. _See ya._

Seras was ever the voice of reason. _Be careful, Maria. Your regeneration still isn't good enough to withstand bullets._

 _Yes'm,_ she said sweetly and then looked up to Alucard.

He had been listening in to their conversation and therefore needed no recap. "There are two elevators, one to the north and south. Squads of fifteen to twenty men are waiting on each floor. What would you do?"

He was asking _her?_ She thought it over for a moment before saying, "If it were me, I'd spare half of the men and use only one elevator. But Sir Integra made it clear that we're to destroy any obstacle. So how about I take the south and you take the north, we rendezvous at the front desk?"

Alucard's eyes roved her face as though searching for something. Reluctance, perhaps? All she had to show him was resignation. Maria didn't like the idea of slaughtering these men in an unfair fight, but their orders were simple. Search and destroy. The soldiers had drawn a poor hand, and Hellsing had a flush.

The No Life King put a gloved hand to her cheek and kissed her passionately. When he nipped her tongue and sucked at the blood she let out a small sound of protest.

"Like you're not going to drown yourself on the way down," she said exasperatedly.

"Yours tastes better," he explained.

"You flatterer." Smiling, she backed away from him as she straightened his cravat, which had become a bit crooked at some point. "I'm only taking the south if I have your word that you're going to kill them in a reasonably humane way. No playing with your food."

He fixed her with an amused, challenging look. "And if I refused?"

She frowned. "Then you'll wait here while I take them all out. And I'll refuse to give you any of my blood for a month."

"You can't refuse me," he objected, encircling a strong hand around her wrist. "I'll take what I want. And you certainly can't confine me to this room."

Maria's face turned stony and there was an obstinate, dangerous fire burning in the depths of her emerald eyes. "You said you wanted me to rule beside you, not beneath you. Or is that only when it suits your fancy, my King?"

He gave a delighted chuckle. "If you were anyone else I'd rip the tongue out of your pretty little head. But very well." He inclined his head and put his hand to his heart in a sign of humility. "You have my word. I won't 'play with my food,' as you so eloquently put it."

"Mulțumesc," she thanked him and stood on her tiptoes to give him her own rough, hungry kiss. When she bit his lip and drew blood he hissed in pleasure as he entangled his fingers in her long curls.

"You're greedy yourself tonight," he teased when he pulled away. "I've given you more than your fair share of my blood since we've left on this mission."

"I'm just a growing girl," she said with an innocent giggle.

Deciding that they had wasted time long enough, Alucard swirled around to face the doors. Maria took his cue and summoned her shadows to cover her body from head to foot. Spread thin enough that they were invisible yet strong enough to stop bullets, it would serve as her armor. Her familiar leapt upon her shoulder and sat there primly, ready to assist its master. Though Maria wasn't looking forward to the long slog down fifteen floors and to the lobby, she was a bit eager to see exactly what her familiar could do. So far it had done nothing other than eat her lunch meat and offend Alucard.

The vampire opened the doors that led into the hallway and strode into the middle of the twenty men as though he were merely on a midnight stroll. His shadows seeped across the floor and walls, sucking the hope out of the air and leaving only the echo of despair. The mortals all trembled as Alucard stood before them with an amused smirk on his lips. One of the soldiers seemed to snap out of the nightmare and with a scream opened fire, but Alucard had already trained the Casull and Jackal on them and was squeezing the trigger. It was over in a matter of seconds, each man fallen with a fatal wound.

"Satisfied?" Alucard asked her.

"Keep it that way til the lobby, and yes," Maria answered. "See you soon."

He let out an eager "Hn," and the two of them headed toward the opposite ends of the long hallways. The group of men who had been waiting at each elevator were running towards them firing, but Maria was unalarmed. The bullets hit her shadows before falling to the ground as she reached behind her to unsheathe the greatsword at her back.

She didn't have a chance to use it, though, as her familiar bounded ahead toward the seventeen soldiers. Just before she reached the men she let out a yowl not unlike a cougar's scream and she transformed into a great cat the size of a pony. She no longer had the corporeal body of an animal; rather, she had become an undulating mass of black shadows and red eyes that assumed the rough shape of a cat, with lithe limbs and a long, slender tail.

The soldiers shrieked in terror and some forgot Maria in favor of firing at the the monster while others fled toward the elevator. It was all meaningless, however, because her familiar was much too fast and ferocious for their efforts to matter. With a powerful swipe of her paw she had cut four in half at the waist. Another she bit the head off of, and she had pounced on and shredded the runners in a matter of moments.

"Whoa," Maria whispered as her familiar turned back to her, blood dripping from its great, fanged maw. It changed back into an unassuming black kitten and Maria picked it up to place it back on her shoulder. "You're a force to reckon with. Thank you."

The cat purred its thanks and rubbed its face against her neck, smearing blood on her in the process as Maria got on the elevator. She nudged the arm of a dead soldier out of the way so the door would close and tried not to look at the scene of destruction. She had told Alucard to be humane, yet her familiar had massacred them. If he had seen that, she wouldn't hear the end of it.

"We've got to be a bit nicer next time," she told it. "Dismember all the freaks you want, but humans are different. Alright?"

The cat fixed her with a disappointed look, but she could feel through their bond that it was compliant.

The elevator gave an upbeat _ding!_ to announce their arrival on the fourteenth floor and Maria could see with her third eye that there were another fifteen men waiting in a semi-circle with their guns trained on the door. Maria had her sword out and phased through the stainless steel doors before they could open. With a broad swing of the blade she lopped off seven of their heads before they even realized she had appeared. Following the momentum of her first swing, she twirled in a circle and finished off the other eight. They collapsed with dull thuds and Maria looked down at the headless corpses as their blood flowed in a river toward her. She took a step back to avoid it. One of the heads had come to a stop only a few inches from her, its eyes wide and mouth frozen in a grimace.

Killing ghouls and vampires never failed to fill her with satisfaction. But this-this gave her nothing but grief. She had a feeling that it would be a long time until the memories of this night faded.

 _You're falling behind,_ Alucard said shortly. _I'm on the eleventh floor already. Hurry up._

Flinching as his deep voice kicked her out of her heavy thoughts, she stepped back into the elevator and headed down to the next floor.

"Just thirteen more," she whispered to herself, her knuckles bone white as she gripped the haft.

She cleared each floor just as quickly as the previous ones. By the time Maria finally reached the lobby she was soaked to the soul in the blood of the poor men. Alucard was waiting for her outside the elevator looking smug and none the worse for wear. If he noticed the pained crease of her brow, he said nothing of it.

"Come," he beckoned, and with a wave of his hand all evidence of her atrocities vanished. Her familiar still perched on her left shoulder, she followed him toward the main entrance. The tall double doors were shut, but through the massive windows on either side Maria could see the flashing of hundreds of camera lights and hear the chatter of a massive crowd.

Alucard looked from the bodies of the soldiers a few paces away to the flagpoles outside, an almost nostalgic smile growing on his lips. With lightning speed he picked up the bodies one by one as though they weighed no more than a feather and hurled them out the windows. Maria watched in horror as each one hit their mark, impaled on their own flagpoles.

"You promised," she hissed, absolutely repulsed.

"I promised to kill them in a humane way. There was no discussion of what I'd do after I've killed them. We need to show these fools exactly who they've declared war on."

He glided towards the great double doors and Maria walked alongside him, though she was still in disbelief that he would do such a despicable thing to the dead. The two massive doors swung open and they strode out. His shadow grew to encompass the roof of the hotel and then turned into an ocean of bats that screeched and took off into the night. The people in the crowd screamed and ducked for cover as Alucard grinned and beckoned to the masses, daring the enemy to make the next move.

"Come forward," he said. "I've had my fill of hors d'oeuvres. Or is everyone here going to die?"

Surely those were empty words. There were at least a hundred people in this crowd. Sir Integra would never stand for such a heinous thing.

A man in white emerged from the crowd, completely at ease despite the fact that he was walking towards a monster. He was tall, dressed in a fine suit and hat, with the dark complexion of a Brazilian but the oddest golden eyes Maria had ever seen. By the eyes and the confident air that seemed to come naturally with immortality, she knew that he was a vampire. Her fingers twitched on the trigger of her gun that she held at her side.

"What a splendid sight to behold," he said with an easy smile. "I could expect nothing less from the great Alucard."

Alucard's crimson eyes widened slightly as he took in this newcomer.

 _Find the Frenchman and Police Girl,_ he ordered her.

 _Okay,_ she agreed, though she wasn't sure that she wanted to leave him on his own. The fate of the onlookers was dubious at best.

She phased into the ground and reappeared outside the tent serving as central command several hundred yards to the east of the hotel. The entire fifteen-yard radius around the large tent was cordoned off with barriers and soldiers toting machine guns. She could see with her third eye that her two comrades were inside the tent shooting the men in control. Soldiers milled about warily, and the moment she appeared in the center of them they swore and began firing. Her shadows sheltered her from their bullets and she took out the great sword reluctantly. She had been hoping it wouldn't come to this. In a dance that she had mastered by necessity, she tore through the enclosure like a whirlwind until the only other survivors were her friends.

The two of them emerged from the tent and cast away their black ski masks, both looking shocked to see Maria before them covered in blood and surrounded by the dismembered bodies of fifty-some men.

"Jesus Christ but you guys are hard core," Pip muttered and grabbed both women by the arms to pull them away from the tent. It was just in time, too, because it exploded not a moment later. The heat of the inferno was a blessing to Maria, who felt colder than ever before.

The Frenchman lit a cigarette and unwrapped his braid from around his neck. He took a long drag as he looked up to the night sky.

"Maria, are you alright?" Seras demanded, staring into her friend's dull emerald eyes.

"Sure," the brunette said distantly, cleaning the blade off on her pants leg before sheathing it. "Sure."

Seras frowned and wiped away the blood on Maria's face with her palm. "What happened?"

Maria ignored her. She didn't know how to express the roaring static in her ears and the pressure in her chest. "Do we have anything figured out for the helicopter?"

The mercenary was giving her a probing look with his lone olive eye and she turned her gaze on the burning tent instead. "That's next on the agenda," he said as he tossed his spent cigarette to the ground. "We'll hijack one of the press copters."

Pip led the two women out of the enclosure and toward the cluster of press vans in the distance. There was one lonely chopper not far from there, and that was his target.

Seras was beside Maria, loud and insistent. "Are you hurt? What's happened?"

"Later," she pleaded. "We need to focus on getting the coffins loaded into the helicopter. They're the priority."

"Maria-"

"I said _later,_ " Maria snapped, and she was startled to feel that her fangs had sprouted in her rage as her usually angelic face contorted into a beastly snarl.

Shocked by her friend's ghastly outburst, Seras fell silent and looked away. Bernadotte wisely feigned ignorance.

Alucard's voice entered her mind abruptly with a simple order. _Return to me, now._

"He's summoning me. Gotta go," she said curtly and then she vanished into her shadows. breathing a sigh of relief to have an excuse to get away from Seras and her prying. The No Life King was on the roof of the hotel and she appeared there to see him on his knees in a pool of his own blood, breathing heavily.

He gave her a grin. "He's got magic cards," he explained, sounding delighted despite the fact that he was bleeding out. "I can't stop the bleeding. This is just so terribly, _terribly_ interesting."

Maria rushed to kneel down beside him and bared her neck to him. No sooner had she done that than he was biting down into her jugular, drinking much, much more of her blood than usual. When he pulled away she was woozy from the blood loss, but managed to stand with him. If this enemy could seriously wound Alucard, he was far out of Maria's league. She saw a large system of air conditioners and their ventilation shafts protruding from the roof in the distance and she dashed to take cover behind them until it was safe.

She just managed to crouch down there when the vampire in white appeared, and while she wanted to watch their battle, Alucard had drained her of too much blood. Black spots were blotting out her vision and her eyes grew heavy. Maria's last thought before slipping into the abyss was the prayer that Alucard would remember where she was and would make sure no harm would come to her during their fight.

Maria stirred when she felt a set of familiar arms pick her up. She opened her heavy eyes to see Alucard looking down at her, smiling.

"You missed the big finale," he teased.

"Sorry," she said. "Did you find out what you needed?"

Excitement gleamed in his crimson gaze. "Oh, yes."

A helicopter soared through the air toward them and landed several yards away. Bernadotte held his pistol to a terrified driver's temple, grinning and waving to Alucard and Maria. Seras emerged and greeted the two of them as well.

"Get the coffins," he ordered her.

She dashed off and Alucard looked to the full moon with an unreadable expression as he said quietly to himself, "Kill them all, your enemies, your allies, your countrymen, yourself, and it's still never enough. We're incorrigible warmongers, aren't we, Major?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked, but he seemed lost in his mind and didn't reply.

He stepped into the helicopter and sat down with Maria on his lap Bernadotte turned around to face them with a smile. "How was your evening, Alucard?"

"Fulfilling," he answered. "And yours?"

"Not bad. It's been awhile since I've hijacked a Hummer and stolen an aircraft in one night."

Seras returned before long, hefting both of the coffins wrapped in their protective drop cloths. She slid them onto the floor of the helicopter at Alucard's feet and then clambered in to sit beside him. Bernadotte had the pilot take them away and Maria rested her head tiredly against the vampire's chest.

 _You fought well tonight,_ he praised her. _Did you enjoy it? The rush of power, the thrill of victory?_

" _Victory" implies that it was a hard-won battle,_ she said bitterly. _What we did was simply slaughter. 287 men died tonight by my hands. How...how can I…_ She trailed off. How could she ever wash their blood from her heart? How could she ever atone?

Alucard sounded irritated. _A paltry sum of paltry existences. Don't linger on it._

That was a command she couldn't obey even if she tried. She found herself asking, _Did you ever care about human life? Did you ever hold it sacred?_

 _Never,_ he said viciously. _We'll speak no more of this._

He severed their connection and Maria curled in upon herself on his lap, drawing her knees up under chin and wrapping her arms around herself. The only thing she wanted right now was oblivion. A place so dark that she could no longer see their grimaces and entrails in her mind's eye, and so resoundingly quiet that the silence would drown out their echoing screams and the sound of metal tearing through flesh.

Normally Alucard's presence brought her comfort. Now, as he practically seethed with displeasure with her, she wished to be far away from him and everybody else.

It was a long flight with no conversation, as the blades of the chopper were too loud to allow regular speech. They traveled westward for about an hour and landed in a field where Pip shot the driver after thanking him. There was a small town a few miles away from the grassy plain and it was decided that the mercenary and Maria would go into the town to steal a vehicle suitable to transport them and the coffins while Alucard and Seras stayed at the helicopter.

Maria was happy to get away from Alucard, whose anger with her was still simmering, and Seras, whose brow was perpetually furrowed whenever she looked at Maria. She grabbed ahold of the captain's arm and her shadows swallowed them up to spit them out on the outskirts of the village. It was nearly three in the morning, so there were no people around to witness them appearing out of nowhere.

"Allons-y, ici," he said, striding ahead and into the town.

The brunette followed him, her hand on the grip of her gun in its holster.

"You've not been your usual cheerful self tonight," he said in a casual way.

She shrugged. "It hasn't been a usual night."

He chuckled as he lit a cigarette. "You've got that right. At the risk of sticking my nose where it doesn't belong, I'm gonna say a few things. You can tune me out if you want."

Maria looked up at him as they continued walking, honestly not sure whether she wanted to listen to what he had to say. She didn't want pretty words; you could put flowers over a corpse but it still wouldn't hide the smell of rot. She also didn't want pity. It was the men she had murdered that deserved pity. No, what she needed was commiseration. She couldn't get that from Alucard, who lacked sympathy. Nor could she find it in Seras, who hadn't done anything near the scale of what Maria had done that night.

From this angle, she could only see his profile. He stared straight ahead, his expression somewhat cloudy as he said, "I've seen that look in your eyes. Like the light in your soul has gone out and you don't know how to get it going again. I've seen it on my men and I've seen it on myself. Was what you did tonight wrong? Perhaps. Did you have an option? No. Both sides were simply following orders. At least you did it in a way that was quick and mostly painless."

Maria frowned down at her shoes. It was true that she had had no other option than to kill them and she had therefore tried to be as efficient as possible. But how many children had she made fatherless with her deeds? How many wives would never see their husbands again?

"I killed 287 men tonight," she told him quietly, "but I didn't just rob them of their lives. I robbed their children of their fathers, their wives of their husbands. How many lives did I destroy tonight?"

"One time, we were sent to Angola," the captain said. "We were hired by the government, who were trying to crush a diamond cartel who were waging civil war. When we engaged the enemy for the first time, we learned that they were using child soldiers. Kids who should have been at home in their mothers' arms were shooting machine guns at us. We were left with no choice but to mow them down. Not a day goes by where I don't think about them and what they could have been, or how their mothers must have wept to know that their babies would never come home to them."

Maria froze in her steps as she gaped at Bernadotte, who had stopped with her and was looking into the distance with a pained expression. His next words were full of bitter resignation.

"That's the thing about this line of work. The world exposes its filthy underbelly to you and it's your job to scrape off the shit so no one else realizes it's there. I've seen the most despicable acts you could imagine, and I've committed a handful of them myself. It's thankless and harrowing and you spend your life watching your friends and comrades die in your arms before it's your turn to die in theirs."

"H-how…" So stricken with grief was she that she could barely speak. "How do you keep doing it, then?"

"Most of the men cut themselves off from the reality of what it is they're doing and focus only on the pay. Others try to find the good in what we do. Others drink."

"And what should I do?"

He turned to her with a soft, genuine smile. It was like the day breaking over the hills, spilling its light and warmth over everything it touched. "Well, ma moitie, I can't tell you what's best for you. You've got to decide that on your own. But I think that so long as you've got the vampire, Seras, and me, you'll make it through."

Maria pulled Bernadotte to her in a fierce hug that he returned. She held him to her as the weight of the guilt and sorrow crashed over her. He patted her on the back as he embraced her, and when she had reined in her tears she pulled away with a tremulous smile.

"You're a good guy," she whispered.

"Don't ruin my reputation," he grinned and ruffled her curly hair affectionately. "Now let's get a car, already. I doubt the vampire will want to be kept waiting. The sun's going to be rising before long."

Maria nodded and the two of them continued walking down the empty streets in search of an appropriate vehicle in a comfortable silence. The burden of their deaths was still crushing, but Pip's words had made it bearable. What she had done was terrible, but it had been done out of necessity, and she wasn't the only person to have made those decisions and live with the consequences. He had been alright. She too would be alright.

They found an old brown van behind a dilapidated bodega and Maria elbowed through the driver side window to reach in and open the door. The mercenary hopped into the driver's seat, a hunting knife between his teeth. With practiced ease he set about hotwiring the van and in a few minutes the engine wheezed to life.

"You wanna drive?" he asked her.

"I haven't really done it before," she warned him.

He smiled. "No time like the present. Besides, it's not ours to worry about if you wreck it."

"You're a terrible influence," she giggled before switching seats with him.

Maria knew the basics of driving. Gas, brakes, forward and reverse. How hard could it be? She popped the van into drive and eased forward, jolting them once when she accidently gave it more gas than necessary. Pip laughed as he took a drag from his cigarette, and with the occasional outcry of "À gauche! À gauche!" or "Les freins!" they were on the way out of town and back toward the helicopter.

Once she was on the small highway and confident enough to do two things at once, she said with a sly smile, "So a little bird told me that you kissed our resident draculina."

"Ah, yes I did," he admitted, a satisfied twinkle in his eye. "All thanks to you and your nosiness."

"You'd have been screwed without my nosiness, and not in the good way," she reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah. Now to get to the actual screwing part."

Maria rolled her eyes at his crassness. "I doubt she's gonna want to take it that fast."

"I don't know. She was pretty eager when she woke up tonight."

"Pip." She fixed him with a stern look. "Don't undo our hard work."

"Look, if there really is a war coming it's now or never, isn't it? I've got needs."

"Your hand has got you by for this long. What's a bit longer?" she said plainly.

"Ma moitie!" He looked scandalized. "I can't believe you'd say something so dirty!"

Nonplussed, she explained, "I've been surrounded by soldiers my entire life. Why on earth wouldn't I know these things? Besides, you _do_ know who I share a bed with, don't you?"

"You're even more terrifying than that vampire," he said as she shook his head with a bemused smile.

"What do you mean?"

"With him, one look and even the world's biggest idiot would know that he's evil. But you-you've got the face of an angel. You could be my little sister. Until you start impaling regenerators and talking about handjobs, and then I remember that you're his badass queen."

Maria grinned for a bit, but then the smile faded. She asked quietly, "Does it bother you?"

"Don't be stupid," he said dismissively. "You and Seras are heaven and hell rolled into one. That's what makes you both so alluring."

Her confidence bolstered, Maria's smile returned and she shot him a raised eyebrow as she teased, "I hope you're not hitting on me."

"What, and incur Alucard's wrath? I'm not dying until I've deflowered the Police Girl, thank you very much."

The two of them laughed as she sped down the highway.

They spent the remaining fifteen minutes of driving by singing with as much gusto as possible to the Guns 'n' Roses classic _Appetite for Destruction_ cassette they happened to find in the glove box. Alucard hated any music that wasn't classical so she refrained from listening to it when he was around, but rock had always been her favorite genre.

When they rolled into the grassy field before the helicopter "Welcome to the Jungle" just ended and Maria came to a stop as the two of them headbanged out the final lyrics. The two vampires were leaning against the side of the helicopter watching them with mixed expressions as Maria and Pip laughed and high-fived each other, Alucard surly and Seras bewildered.

They both got out of the van and went to their companions.

 _What did you do while you were gone?_ Alucard demanded of her, sounding distrustful.

 _Had a bit of a heart-to-heart chat, stole a van, learned how to drive, sang some songs. You weren't watching?_

 _I have better things to do than to watch your every inane moment,_ he answered, though Maria noticed that his tone had lightened considerably.

 _I'm sorry for my actions in the helicopter,_ she said to him. _I let my emotions get the best of me and I was disrespectful._

Alucard was quiet for a moment before he said thoughtfully, _The first time is difficult for anyone. See that it doesn't happen again._

She gave him a curious glance, but he was impassively watching Seras carry his coffin and load it carefully into the back of the van.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, what are your thoughts? I hope you guys don't mind that I skipped over the fight with Tubalcain. I just felt that words wouldn't do it justice and you all know how it goes anyways. Pip is such a great character. He rounds out this little group of weirdos perfectly. Review and favorite, pretty please!


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** Heya. Chapter 12 was fun to write, particularly the first bit. Hope you like it as much as I did.

* * *

A quick glance at her phone revealed that it was 4:37 a.m. Because the windows of the van weren't tinted they would have to hurry to another town and find lodging. Stifling a yawn, she clambered into the back of the van with Seras while Pip took driver's and Alucard took the passenger seat. They had taken out the second row of seats to accommodate the coffins, so the two girls huddled between the coffin and wall of the van side by side.

The mercenary borrowed her smartphone to look at the gps and find them a hotel. They wound up in a decently sized town fifteen minutes from the outskirts of Sao Paulo in an average motel. Alucard used his hypnotism to persuade the person behind the desk to forget all about them and their strange luggage and they received two keys to a two-bed room. The day was just breaking as Seras brought in the last coffin and wiped some sweat from her brow, dark circles under her eyes.

"So now what do we do, Master?" she asked.

"You and the Frenchman are going to go find us transportation back to England," he decreed.

"And what am I going to do?" Maria asked.

"You will sleep."

Maria felt guilty. Seras and Bernadotte had had a long night as well, and there was also the risk of the sunlight for Seras to contend with.

"Alright." Bernadotte tipped his hat in a lazy salute. Seras opened her coffin and withdrew a fresh change of clothes. A couple minutes later she emerged from the bathroom in a sun-proof outfit of jeans and hooded jacket complete with gloves. She bade them farewell and the two of them left.

"Bathe and rest," he said as he sat down on one of the queen beds, reclining against the headboard in full dress.

She opened up his coffin and withdrew her small bag of clothes. She took a quick shower and changed into a pair of black tights and a charcoal gray turtleneck sweater that hung to her mid-thigh. She crawled onto the bed and lie down beside the Nosferatu, who was looking down at her with an unreadable expression.

"Are you thirsty?" he asked.

Maria was ravenous. The soldiers had begun their assault not long after she had woken up and she had had no meal of any kind for nearly twenty-four hours. Unconsciously she licked her lips in longing.

"Then drink," he said.

Maria sat on his lap and his gloved hands came to rest on her hips as she undid his cravat and the first two buttons of his white dress shirt. His scent was so very unique as she ran her teeth over his jugular before sinking them in. It was a peculiar mixture of gunpowder, blood, and something else she didn't have a name for, something old, powerful, and alluring. His blood washed down her throat and quenched her burning thirst, rid her of her fatigue, and helped to wash away the turmoil of the night. She could feel the tension seep out of her muscles and bones and she relaxed against him as she wrapped her arms around him. Despite his mercurial demeanor, he was her rock. He could stir her into a tempest, but he could also calm her with his mere presence.

One of his broad hands was at her side and the other was lost in her long curls. Presently, Alucard said, _I can never give to you what the Frenchman gave you tonight._

 _I know._ She had known that for a long, long time. _I don't expect you to._

It was nearly imperceptible but she could feel him relax a bit, as though he had been worried she would say otherwise.

 _You can see now why I'm so insistent that he join us._

 _Yes, but it won't happen. He's too good a man to succumb to the darkness._

Maria frowned. _He's good, but he's not without a darkness of his own. And he told me tonight he refuses to die until he sleeps with Seras, so…_

 _It's not so simple,_ Alucard stated. _He's a fragile human and this war will not be kind to him. You need to prepare yourself for every eventuality._

 _I know,_ she whispered.

His blood stopped flowing and the wounds she had inflicted healed over. When Maria pulled away to look up at him she found him gazing at her with the intensity of a thousand stars. There was something smouldering in his gaze, some sort of emotion that she had never seen in them before.

He seized her lips in a bruising kiss, hungry and demanding as his hands roved her body. Maria was tired but she could never bring herself to refuse the pleasure he so generously bestowed upon her. Their clothes melted away and Maria gasped when her sensitive nipples were suddenly flush against his cool chest and his firmness was sliding insistently against her moist, eager center.

There was always a certain possessive, ravenous quality to their trysts. It was a constant vie for who could be in power and who could send the other over the edge first. It was for this reason that Maria didn't recognize the urgency laced in Alucard's movements as he crushed her to him and kissed her wildly. His gloved hands were traversing her entire body as though attempting to memorize her every contour and Maria was almost overwhelmed by this new passion. When he grabbed her by the hips and had her grind against his length they both shuddered.

He switched their positions so that he was on top of her, settled between her spread legs. Lavishing her with nips and swirls of his long tongue, he trailed his way down her neck and to her breasts. Maria lost her hands in his long, silky locks as her back arched involuntarily and she rubbed her wanting pussy against his manhood, causing him to hiss longingly against her flesh.

With a fanged smirk he crawled back up to kiss her lips again, slower yet no less passionate than before. Maria didn't know why but this new touch made something flutter apprehensively in her chest, as though it were wrong.

He broke the kiss to stare into her gaze with a rueful smile. He said softly, "Your eyes are the most beautiful emerald."

It happened so fast that Maria barely had time to react but Alucard was suddenly poised at her entrance, ready to rob her of everything he had promised her in one simple thrust. Gasping, she kicked him in the gut with all of her might. But the sun had risen and she had only a shadow of her usual strength, so he only moved back a few inches.

"No!" she cried. "Don't you dare!"

He wore the same sad smile as though he had tacked it to his lips. "It's better this way."

"Like hell it is! Get off me!" Snarling, Maria tried to push him off her, but his two strong hands on her wrists kept her immobile. She continued to thrash against him to no effect. "Why would you take this from me? Am I not good enough to be your queen anymore?"

"You're _too_ good," he corrected her. "I won't see you ruined for my own selfish fears."

His words made no sense to her. Her chest heaved as she struggled. "I don't know what you're going on about. You said when we started this ritual that there was no turning back once I began walking down this path with you, as if my life started with your blood. But I've been following you since long before then, and not once have I wavered. You would betray my loyalty?"

Maria had chosen her words carefully and she watched them fall upon him like arrows. She felt him back away from her a fraction of an inch. There was nothing in this world he hated more than a traitor.

"I do this because it is best for you," he reasoned.

"So you would cast me aside for some perceived greater good?" she spat.

This time her arrows hit the mark. He pulled away from her, releasing her arms and sitting up to stare at her in abject horror.

His question tumbled from his lips in a breath. "How do you know those words?"

Maria ignored him and got right in his face, giving him the thunderous expression she reserved only for those she would soon be sending to Hell. "You seem to think that our bond flows in only one direction. That I am yours and that I must pay you my devotion like some tithe. But just as I am promised to you, you are promised to me. Just as you demand my allegiance I demand yours. Gone are your days of unilateral decrees, King. We are equals, and I will not bend to your every will. Particularly if it is as fickle and stupid as this one."

She stared unflinchingly into Alucard's hard glare. She wouldn't back down, even if he killed her for it.

"If you become my queen, you will be forced to spend eternity by my side," he warned her. "You will be condemned to rule the night until we are both slain."

Maria gave a mirthless chuckle. "You say it as though I don't already know it. Of course we'll be killed some day. There is no such thing as a true immortal, even if you are the closest thing to it. And when we're killed, we will reign over Hell."

"Why?" he demanded, his frustration bleeding into his voice as his brow furrowed. "Why are you so willing to throw away everything away to be with a monster?"

"Because we are promised to each other," she answered simply. "I've known it my entire life. You are a monster, but you aren't without your moments of decency. And I know that the feelings you hold for me are the closest to love that you are capable of. I am captivated by your complexities, enraptured by your madness. I can't imagine an existence without you.

"And loath as you are to admit it, you need me. You need someone to abate the loneliness of eternity, and it must be someone who can walk the line of monster and human simultaneously. Someone who can indulge your darkness and yet pull you back from the brink of madness. You said it yourself-you could travel the world a thousand times over and no one would hold a candle to me. Destroy me if you must, but it will always be the one deed you regret most."

Maria could never win a physical battle with Alucard so she had used her words as her weapons instead, and to devastating effect. He had been ravaged by them. His face was contorted in a hideous, beastly grimace of rage and defeat. He wanted to finish the ritual and make her his queen this very moment; he wanted to squeeze her skull until her eyes burst.

The No Life King seized her by the hair and yanked her to him. Her face was centimeters from his and she stared up at him calmly as he gave her a glare that had killed lesser humans.

"You," he growled, "are even more terrifying than I am."

He kissed her then, with punishing fangs and gratifying tongue. She threw her arms around him and shoved him to the bed as she returned his embrace in kind. _This,_ this was what she wanted from Alucard. His hunger and his zeal, his respect and his wit.

This time they were nothing short of violent with each other, Maria working out her fury with his near betrayal and Alucard expressing his rage at being outwitted by her. By the end of it, the two of them were covered in bite marks and the bedding had been absolutely ruined, but they were both grinning as they shared one final heated, bloody kiss.

Still riding on the last fading ebbs of ecstasy, Maria gave a sigh and tucked into the vampire's side, her head in the crook of his shoulder. He put his arm around her and rested it on her hip over a red ring of teeth marks. Maria watched as the wounds she had created on him melted away to eternally perfect flesh. Her powers of regeneration were still weak, and even weaker in the daytime. It would be several hours until hers were healed.

Every last bone in Maria's body ached. It was now nearing nine a.m. and it was all she could do to keep her emerald eyes open.

"Sleep," Alucard commanded. "You're of no use to me if you're too tired to fight."

If she hadn't been so exhausted she would have considered biting him again. She murmured, "You think Seras and Bernadotte are doing alright?"

A pause, and then he said, "Yes. They're at some fast food restaurant."

"Could you please tell them to get me some pancakes?"

"If you don't fall asleep within the minute I will hypnotize you."

She huffed but closed her eyes obediently and dozed off only moments later. It felt like she had only been sleeping for a moment when she heard the hotel door open upon Seras and Bernadotte's return. Alucard had had the decency to black magic their clothes back on, and she sat up to greet the pair.

"Jesus Christ, what the fuck did you do to her?" the mercenary demanded.

Maria's hand flew to her lips, where Alucard had bitten her rather forcefully and left several punctures. This revealed the rings of teeth marks on her hands as well. The rest were thankfully covered by her clothes.

"I gave him back in kind," Maria said. "He just heals faster than I do."

"It looks like there was a ritual sacrifice in that bed," he cried.

The brunette looked down to see that Alucard hadn't bothered to get rid of their blood on the blankets. There was more red than white on them.

 _You did that on purpose,_ she accused him.

 _He should know what he's getting himself into if he stays with the Police Girl._

"Shark Week," Seras whispered in horror as she looked at the bed. Judging by the half-repulsed, half-morbidly curious look on her face, she was finally putting an image to Maria's earlier description of her activities with her master.

"Quoi?"

"Nothing!" she squeaked, bright red.

 _You compared our coupling to sharks?_ Alucard asked, sounding amused.

 _It was either that or praying mantises, but I don't think we've reached that level yet._

He laughed out loud, which only served to further unsettle the two who weren't privy to their mental banter. Bernadotte handed Maria a styrofoam takeout box of pancakes and she thanked him before tearing them into bits and eating them gingerly with her abused mouth.

Maria had just taken a bite when her phone on the nightstand began to vibrate. It was a restricted call, but there were only two people who it could be.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Maria," Sir Integra greeted brusquely. "Report."

"We completed the mission in its entirety. Alucard defeated the enemy and has learned their secrets. Number of enemy casualties is 549. We are all uninjured and in a small town not far from Sao Paulo."

"Well done," she said, her heavy voice making her sound much older than her 22 years. "Hand the phone to Alucard."

She did as told and the vampire grinned. As with every phone call the master and servant had, it ended with Integra hanging up the phone in a rage and Alucard laughing. The only person he loved irritating more than her was his master.

"The transportation situation is pretty bleak," the mercenary said. "Hopeless, actually. Completely hopeless."

Seras added, "We're going to have to wait at least a week for a boat, and then if you consider the time it'd take to actually cross the ocean in it it's just hopeless."

"That's out of the question," Alucard said plainly. "Get ready to leave."

Everyone else looked to him in confusion.

"We're stealing a plane," he explained, as though it were the most logical course of action. The three of them gaped at him, praying that he wasn't actually serious. "There's no other option. Let's go."

"Non non non non non non non!" Bernadotte point blank refused. "We're all gonna die! This time, we're really gonna die! I'm not doing it. No thank you. No fucking thank you!"

Maria was about to ask Alucard if he knew how to fly a plane (which was incredibly doubtful because the vampire couldn't even work a flip phone) when his gaze shot to the closed hotel door. Maria could feel it, the cloying righteousness and holy power that set her teeth on edge and made her reach for her gun in the waistband of her tights. Seras sensed it as well, though wasn't near as articulate and only managed to sputter incoherently as she gestured at the door. Pip, with his woefully insufficient five senses, looked as though he thought everyone had gone mad.

Until the door right beside him flew off its hinges and none other than Paladin Anderson marched through the door, growling like a dog. Alucard snarled in kind and the two of them marched towards each other, their fists raised. Maria looked on from the bed in horror, taking a mental stock of how many heartbeats she could feel in the rest of the motel and whether it would be possible to get them out before these two razed the building. She was determined that there would be no more casualties on this mission.

The two of them threw mighty punches that connected, causing them to both reel back and cough up blood. They both wore grins as they went blow to blow, evenly matched.

"Monster," Anderson spat.

"Just couldn't take it anymore, human?" Alucard smiled as blood dripped from his nose and mouth.

The two of them withdrew their weapons and immediately the already dire atmosphere became even more bleak. Swearing, Pip trained his revolver on Anderson. Maria took up her pistol and aimed it squarely between the regenerator's eyes. The air was so thick it could have stopped a bullet and Maria's heart was threatening to burst out of her chest.

" _Graaaaa!"_ Letting out a dramatic yell, Seras pointed the massive Harkonnen at Anderson, one of its gigantic bullets between her teeth. The teenager had been so focused on Anderson and Alucard that she hadn't noticed the draculina retrieving the cannon.

Anderson's eyes flitted toward the blonde and an amused grin grew on his lips. He threw a bayonet at her and Seras flinched, but the bayonet landed harmlessly in the wall a few inches from her head, pinning an official looking paper there.

His bayonets stashed away, the priest bent over to pick up his ruined glasses and put them back on in a dignified manner. "Thirteen kilometers north of here is an agricultural use airport that the Vatican has requisitioned," he said in an almost even voice. "You'll find a small jet with its engine running there. Leave. Hurry up and leave. That's the necessary form. Take it and leave while I can still keep myself from killing all of you."

Maria could hardly believe it. The Vatican, and Anderson himself, who had tried to murder her just a short week ago, was providing their escape? He left without a word and everyone stared out the doorway as he left, wondering if it had actually happened or had been a hallucination brought on by extreme stress and sleep deprivation.

"Police Girl, ready the coffins," Alucard ordered. "Mercenary, get the vehicle."

The two of them leapt at his words, pulled from their wonderings and back to reality. They hurried to fulfil his commands as Maria looked to the vampire, who was grinning.

"Unexpected friends in unexpected places," she commented.

He nodded in agreement and handed her her forgotten box of pancakes. Thanking him, she started munching on them again. Once the two had finished preparing to leave, Alucard dropped his wide-brimmed hat onto her head and they all got into the van. A small part of Maria wondered if they would get to the airport to find an ambush, but it was just as the Judas Priest had said. A small Cessna was already for them and there were men waiting to receive the paperwork and send them on their way.

The coffins were placed in the aisle and Seras got into hers with less of a fuss than before but was clearly not pleased. The mercenary sagged into a seat beside the head of her coffin and heaved a great sigh before tucking his hat over his face, crossing his arms, and falling asleep.

Alucard sat on the other end of the plane and Maria sat sideways on his lap, her legs dangling over the side of the chair and her back leaning against the wall of the plane. They would be over the ocean in less than twenty minutes after takeoff, and she didn't want to go through the same agony she had the last time. She bit down into his carotid and began drinking unhurriedly. One hand on her waist and the other resting on her thigh, he allowed her to drink to her heart's content. When they crossed over the ocean Maria only felt the ghost of the horrid tugging sensation and after about a half hour she fell asleep with her head resting against Alucard's strong chest.

It had been the longest forty-eight hours of her life, but it had come to a close.

* * *

 _It was a crisp late winter morning and the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, tinging the sky heavenly golds and pinks. Alucard lie on the ground, looking human and broken as blood trickled down his lips and seeped from the hole in his chest where a wooden stake had been rammed into his heart._

" _Have I lost?" he whispered, a sort of tired disappointment in his voice as though he had known it would come to this._

 _A man stood before him with a salt-and-pepper five o'clock shadow and piercing blue eyes. "Yes," he said bitterly, and there was exhaustion in his words as well. "You have lost. There's no such thing as a never-ending nightmare, after all. You've lost your castle and your lands. You've lost every last one of your servants and subjects. The marks from the Eucharist wafer have faded from her. She will never become your queen."_

 _The man stomped on the stake with all of his might, hammering it straight through Alucard's heart. The vampire let out a cry so very undignified, scared and pitiful as he lost more and more of his blood._

 _But the human wasn't finished. He grabbed Alucard by the lapels of his coat and shook the vampire's limp body roughly as it sobbed._

" _You have nothing, Count!" he screamed in his face. "Did you hear me, you pitiful No Life King! You have nothing left!"_

* * *

Maria awoke with a jolt, as though it had been her the stake had pierced. Her face was wet and when she took her hand away from it she was surprised to see that it was covered in blood. She looked up at Alucard to see that he was awake too, his expression purely distressed as a bloody stream of tears cascaded from his eyes.

"Are you alright?" she asked hesitantly. She hadn't known that he was capable of tears and didn't know how he would react.

Alucard looked down at her as though he had forgotten her existence there on his lap. He wiped away a streak of his blood on her temple with a gloved thumb.

His voice was a mixture of irritation and incredulity. "A dream. _I,_ dream. How ridiculous."

Maria wiped away his blood on her face with the hem of her sweater and then reached up to dab his face clean as well. He allowed her to with a surly frown. A hundred questions about what she had seen in the dream were boiling inside her but she dared not voice them. She had the very keen feeling that she wasn't supposed to have seen it, and she was hoping that he didn't know she had been witness to this part of him he kept so tightly locked away.

"Give me your throat," he commanded, and she instantly pulled down the turtleneck of her sweater, swept aside her long curtain of curls, and tilted her head to the side for him.

The vampire brought his mouth to her neck but didn't bite immediately. He took a deep inhale and breathed in her scent before biting her tenderly.

 _My power still runs through your veins,_ he said. _I can taste it._

Of course that was so. Had he been concerned that she had somehow lost the powers he had given her? Or that she had cast them away somehow?

Maria's hopes sank when Alucard asked, _You saw the dream, didn't you?_

 _Yes._ There was no point in lying. He would read her mind to find the answer anyways.

 _And what did you think of that version of me?_

The brunette squirmed a bit in his lap, desperately wanting to extricate herself from this conversation, but he held her to him with two strong hands on her wrists as he continued to drink.

 _Answer my question,_ he commanded icily.

 _I thought you were pitiful,_ Maria admitted. _I felt pain seeing you so broken and forlorn._

Alucard's hold on her wrists tightened and she hissed as her bones threatened to break, yet he didn't relent. _I am always like that when it comes time for me to die. Revoltingly weak and cowardly. In my human life I was too spineless to face my death and turned to the Night. Demise is the single thing I crave and fear most._

He had entrusted her with a crucial fragment of his being with those words.

 _Would you crave it even if you weren't alone?_

He offered no answer to her question, but she hadn't really expected one.

She continued, _When we've won this war and when we're free from the Hellsing family, the four of us are going to stay together. We're going to rule over the Night and all of its Children._

 _Oh?_ Alucard sounded intrigued.

 _Of course. What else would we be king and queen of?_ Maria was nothing but matter-of-fact. _We'll do that for a few centuries at least, until someone comes along and vanquishes us. And when we get to Hell we'll take over it too._

The vampire chuckled and pulled away from her neck, an evil smile on his lips. "You are much more ambitious than I gave you credit for. I thought you were joking when you spoke of Hell earlier."

She shook her head. "Of course not. You're unstoppable as it is, but if I can become as strong as you then we could certainly throw the Devil off his throne."

He gave her a probing stare with his crimson eyes and then ran a hand through her curls as he smiled down at her. "You have an even greater thirst for power than I do. How you manage to hide it beneath that angelic mask is truly remarkable."

"Walking a line, remember?" she grinned, and then drew close enough that their noses were touching. She whispered across his lips, "And it isn't a mask."

The kiss she gave him was as fiery as the Rapture itself, yet the smile she wore on her lips as she unzipped his trousers was nothing short of devious.

"My dear, you are the furthest thing from an angel," he groaned as he fisted his hands in her mane of curls.

Maria took him out of her mouth and ran her tongue around his head in a slow, torturous circle before saying lowly, "I'll show you heaven."

He gave a soft chuckle as his eyes danced with pleasure and she resumed her ministrations. True to her word, she gave him his bliss in less than ten minutes. Letting out a growl of completion he emptied his seed into her mouth and she swallowed it down hungrily before they shared one more passionate kiss and she went back to sitting sideways on his lap.

"Can I ask you a question?" she said presently. When he gave her an expectant look she swallowed and asked, "Am I really frightening? Bernadotte said the same thing."

"Oh yes," the vampire answered without hesitation, an amused smirk curling his lips. "You are even more mercurial than I am. When you want to be, you are a sweet, carefree young girl, yet underneath that innocent facade is a maelstrom of darkness that comes to light when you are impassioned. It is your ambiguity that they fear."

A frown grew on Maria's lips. "They don't fear Seras."

"That's because she is still much more innocent than you. Give her a few decades and that will change." He paused, then added, "Perhaps sooner if the Frenchman succeeds."

At the mention of their potential relationship, Maria put aside her concerns for herself and gave Alucard an imploring look. "You _will_ keep spying on them with me, right?"

His expression was bored, but in his eyes mischief was dancing. "Do it yourself."

"I would, but I can only do it when they're relatively close by. You can do it from miles away."

"Don't you think it in poor taste to spy on your friend?" he prodded.

"Oh, please. The Frenchman needs all the help he can get. It's my duty as their friend."

Alucard rolled his eyes and ignored her as he sipped from a wine glass that had appeared in his hand. He picked at the cloth of her gray sweater absently as she read a novel on her phone.

"Do you own a dress?" he asked.

"Um...no. Would you like to see me in one?"

"I'd rather see you in nothing," he smirked. "We'll be attending the Round Table Conference upon our return and there will be some important people there. When I introduce my Queen to them, I want her to look the part."

Maria looked down to her sweater and skirt ensemble. Though it looked nice on her, it certainly couldn't be called regal. "Can you magic me an outfit like you do for yourself?"

"No."

"How does it work, anyways?" she continued. "Where did that wine come from? Where do our clothes go when you vanish them?"

"You'll learn in time." He handed her a glass of wine and she took a drink from it before returning to her book.

Her familiar appeared on the floor and jumped onto her stomach. The lithe black kitten rubbed her face with its nose and Maria scratched its neck with a smile. Its red eyes twinkled appreciatively before it curled up on her breasts to sleep.

"Did you see my familiar in action?" she asked, only gloating a bit.

It was the first time she had seen him regard the beast in question with something other than contempt. He looked at it now with a reluctant sort of acknowledgement.

"Yes. It would seem that it's not as useless as it looks."

The two of them drifted into silence for the remainder of the flight. Presently both Pip and Seras awoke and Maria spoke with them until the flight landed. A Hellsing vehicle was waiting for them on the runway and after loading up the coffins, they were on their way back home. Relief washed over her as they drove through the manor gates. It was early morning and the sun had began its journey to the west. Alucard stared out the heavily tinted windows and toward the great orb with an unreadable expression.

Walter was waiting to greet them outside the main doors. Maria practically bounded out of the car and wrapped the butler in an enthusiastic hug.

"Welcome back," he said warmly, returning the hug. "And how was your trip?"

She smiled as she pulled away from him. "Alright, but there really is no place like home."

He welcomed the others back and then filled them in on the situation. "The Round Table conference is set to begin in about an hour. Please change into something suitable, as her Her Majesty will be present."

"H-her Majesty?" Seras exclaimed, panicking. "We're going to be meeting the queen? Oh my God, I don't have anything to wear…"

"Rest assured. I took the liberty of purchasing outfits suitable for you and Maria. I recommend that you get cleaned up and prepared."

Maria faded into the floor and emerged in her room. Never before had she felt so happy to see her chambers. They had only been gone for two short days, yet it had felt so much longer. She had half expected there to be a layer of dust on everything, but of course it was as spotless as ever. When her eyes fell on her bed and the clothes laid out on it a bit of anxiety flashed through her. She had never worn something so impractical or feminine in her entire life and she rankled slightly.

It wasn't everyday that she was given the chance to meet the Queen, though. Heaving a resigned sigh she stripped and got into the shower. The hot water helped to wash her fatigue away and sharpen her mind. The morning combined with the jetlag had her suppressing yawn after yawn.

When she emerged from the shower she was delighted to see that Walter had come and gone, leaving several packets of chilled medical blood waiting for her on the table. Maria all but rushed to them and began drinking. While it was true that she had indulged quite a bit in Alucard's blood over the past couple days, she had also expended a massive amount of energy in that time as well. She guzzled packet after packet down in a rather unladylike manner, and as she wiped a stray trickle of her meal from her lips she was thankful no one was there to have witnessed it.

Maria sat down at her nigh untouched armoire and set about working mid-back length mane of curls into something worthy of Her Majesty. She ended up sweeping them up into an elegantly messy bun with a few stray curls hanging down on either side of her face and framing it nicely. She had just slipped into the dress when Alucard appeared in a chair at the table, grinning as he hungrily took in her new look.

Compulsively she smoothed down the sides of the pure white, knee-length sheath dress. It hugged her curves so well that Maria wondered if Walter kept her measurements on hand or if Alucard had somehow relayed them to him. A row of six golden buttons ran from the left side of the neck of the dress to the hem and where the buttons ended the hem of the dress cut up, revealing a tantalizing yet tasteful slice of her thigh. The sleeves were three-quarters length and the neckline just barely exposed her collarbone. It was incredible how this dress could show less skin than her Hellsing uniform yet be so scintillating. The ensemble was completed with a pair of taupe stilettos that she found uncomfortable but made her legs appear even more toned than they already were.

"Well?" she asked nervously. "What do you think?"

The No Life King couldn't seem to take his covetous gaze off her. He wore his standard garb minus the hat, his glasses folded and on the table beside him, and in reply to her question he held a hand out to her as his shadows slid up her legs to pull her toward him. He took her hand in his and pulled her to stand between his spread legs. His gloved hands ran over her curves longingly, making Maria shiver with want.

"I would have thought that white would be the last color to suit you," he said, "but I have been proven wrong. You are as tempting as the sweetest-smelling rose, and just as dangerous."

His flattery filled her with happiness and bolstered her confidence. She ran her fingers through his silky locks. "It will please my King to know that my lingerie is black as night."

And please him it did, judging by the dark grin that curled his lips to reveal his fangs. "Show me," he commanded.

Maria knelt down to claim his lips in a teasing kiss but pulled away. "We don't have the time for that, I'm afraid."

"Then kiss me again," he said with a frown, and she obliged him. His kiss was vindictive, full of savage teeth and fast tongue, but that was what Maria liked best. She felt something come to rest in her hair as they kissed, and when he pulled away her hands immediately went to her head to discover the gift. A look in the mirror showed that he had given her a finely crafted crown of stunning roses, nasturtiums, anemones, edelweiss, and bay and oak leaves made of delicately hammered and carved gold. Numerous diamonds and rubies twinkled from within the center of each flower. This was a treasure on par with the greatsword he had so generously given her.

"A queen needs a crown," he said by way of explanation, suddenly standing beside her as she fingered the circlet in astonishment.

"Mulțumesc," she stammered. "Este uluitoare."

He seemed satisfied by her gratitude because he bent down and lavished her neck with kisses before sinking his fangs in deep. Maria hissed in mixed delight and irritation.

"It's not going to be healed by the time we join the conference," she protested, "and I can't hide it with my hair."

 _That's the point,_ he said in her mind as he sucked at the wounds he had inflicted, sounding pleased to have vexed her.

She sighed but smiled as she leaned into his touch and allowed him to drink his fill. He had just pulled away when Seras and Bernadotte knocked on her door dressed smartly in Hellsing dress uniforms of black with silver trimmings. The mercenary looked clearly uncomfortable in the stiff garments, but the draculina seemed at ease.

"Maria! You're stunning!" she gushed upon seeing her friend.

"Thanks," blushed Maria. "You guys look good yourselves. Let's go get this over with, yeah?"

Bernadotte cast Alucard a surly scowl. "How come you don't have to change?"

"Who is there to make me?" he returned, a smug smirk on his lips. "Come."

* * *

 **A/N:** Alucard's still a bit of an ass. But he redeems himself towards the end with shiny things.

Este uluitoare=It's breathtaking.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** Welcome to another chapter. I had a really hard time writing this section and had originally included the entire conversation with the Major and the Round Table. I took it out though because it was rather boring.

* * *

It was a deathly silent drive back to Hellsing manor from the meeting. Maria's fury with Alucard's flippancy was like a miasma weighing down the air around them and making Seras, Bernadotte, and the driver anxious. Alucard ignored and further rankled her by not having the decency to clean the Schroedinger boy's blood off her. It was noon and she lacked the power to do so herself in broad daylight, so she spent the entire half-hour drive drumming her nails on her knees and contemplating running him through with her greatsword.

She couldn't stop recalling Alucard, who was positively beside himself, clutching at his heart and laughing as though he had just heard the most splendid joke when the Major declared war for the sake of it. The hellfire had been dancing in his eyes as if in rejoicement, and Maria felt a sinking dread grow in the pit of her stomach. She had never seen him so happy-not amused or smug, honestly and truly _glad-_ in her entire life.

When he lavished her with gifts and attention she could almost forget that beneath the surface he was well and truly a monster bent on destruction. He had just listened to a declaration of war, a war against him in which untold numbers of people would die, and he had reacted as though it were the best news he had heard this century. Revulsion for him and his callousness crawled up her throat like bile.

She wordlessly phased to her chambers the moment of their return and hastened to get out of her ruined clothes. She placed the delicate golden crown on her armoire and her clothes in the laundry basket in the corner before jumping into the hottest shower she had ever taken.

 _You're angry,_ Alucard acknowledged in her mind.

Maria wrenched open the shower curtains to see him standing in her bathroom looking non-plussed. She nearly tore the curtains from their hooks when she shut them again.

"I'm not in the mood to discuss it."

He obviously was, though, because he said, _You remembered that I'm a monster._

"I didn't forget that. I just forgot how much of a monster you are," she said in a growl as she viciously worked her shampoo into a lather.

This didn't seem to satisfy him though, because she could feel him still standing there staring at her.

 _Explain,_ he commanded.

Maria gritted her teeth and put every ounce of her concentration on rinsing her long curls. She knew that her silence would only anger him and that wasn't her intention, but she couldn't arrange her emotions into words quite yet.

"Explain." He was in the shower with her now, fully dressed and with dangerously long, wild hair as he glared at her.

"I don't want to talk about it now. Let me sleep on it."

The look he leveled her with was downright foreboding. He slapped the bar of soap out of her hand and it clattered to the ground. His clothes should have been soaked, as he was fully dressed and the hot water was beating down directly on his chest, but the droplets bounced off him as though he were more metal than man. He grabbed her by the chin and forced her to meet his blood red eyes.

"I want to know why you loathe me," he demanded.

Maria glared at him for a moment as she struggled to tame and detangle the complex emotions the past couple days had created. "I'm not as inured to human deaths as you are. And for you to _rejoice_ when you learn that thousands upon thousands of them will die in a war waged against you-" She took in a deep breath and tried to stop her fists at her side from trembling. "-Innocent people who have nothing to do with you or them, just pawns pushed around by unseen hands… I will _never_ understand this part of you, and I will always despise it."

An almost triumphant gleam was in the No Life King's eyes as his grip on her chin tightened. "There is more."

"Why do you want this war so badly?" she asked. When he gave her no answer, she continued, "It's like you're looking for a chance to die. I thought I made it clear to you just a few hours ago that we have things to do here first. It's not your time to die yet."

"It's been my time for five hundred years now."

She shook her head. "That changed when you decided to make me your queen."

"You talk of the future as though you can see it," he spat. "With the Frenchman, with me, with us. No one can foretell what will come."

"It will all come to be," she swore, meeting his glower with her own hard, determined emerald stare. "Don't you feel it too? You knew the moment you saw me that I would become your queen. It's no different than that sensation. The Frenchman will join us in the Night. You and I will assume the Night throne, and then that of Hell. These are the undeniable truths of our existence."

"No," he denied her. "You're nothing but foolish."

She gave him an apathetic shrug of her shoulders. "Believe what you like, then. If you don't mind I'd like to finish this shower and get some rest."

"How did you know those words at the hotel?"

Maria was taken aback by the sudden change in topic and she thought back to the heated conversation they had had at the seedy motel outside Rio. "What words?"

"'So you would cast me aside for some perceived greater good,'" he quoted. "How did you know them?"

Honestly bewildered, she said, "I don't know what you mean."

"You said them knowing what effect they would have," Alucard accused. "You turned the exact words I uttered five hundred years ago to my traitor brother back upon me. _How_ did you come by them?"

His strong hands were on either side of her head, squeezing as though he thought the answer he sought would pop out if he exerted enough force. Maria remembered this dance all too well and was quick to grab him by the wrists and attempt to pry his fingers from her.

"You should know me well enough by now to know that I am not malicious for malice's sake," she ground out. "Not with humans and not with you, anyways. I had no conscious awareness of those words before I said them, but I was aiming to elicit some sort of human emotion from you with them, and I succeeded."

He opened his mouth to accuse her of more; she could tell by the dark fury smouldering in his eyes. She pre-empted it by putting a finger to his lips and adding, "You should _also_ know by now that I respect you too much to violate your privacy by snooping through your mind. Don't insult me."

The vampire looked as though he were contemplating biting her finger off. Still looking murderous, he released her from the vice of his hands as Maria dropped her finger away from his lips.

"No one else has enraged me as much as you do and lived," he warned her.

Maria began conditioning her hair. Sarcasm dripped from her every syllable. "How can I ever thank you for your mercy, my King?"

If asked, she couldn't say why she had said such a brash thing to the No Life King. Even an absolute idiot would understand that she had practically committed suicide with her flippancy. All she knew was that their argument had only served to foment the enmity and worry swirling about inside her. A mad part of her craved his wrath, knowing that with it would come some sort of serenity.

Snarling, he grabbed her by her hair. His face was monstrous, warped with his animosity into a terrifying mask of sharp teeth in a too-large mouth. He bit down into her neck with them and Maria let out a soft cry. There was no pleasure this time; it was nothing but excruciation as he tore into her flesh with his jagged teeth and sloppily lapped up the blood that spewed forth.

By the time he had taken his fill, Maria was limp as a ragdoll and she fell gracelessly into a heap when he released her hair. Despite the hot water pounding on her back she was enveloped in a pervasive cold and the world seemed very, very far away from her. Her eyes wouldn't stay open and she could just barely make out Alucard's black leather boots inches from her face.

"Stupid girl," he said bitterly. "I'll give you all the retribution you seek and more."

He vanished then, leaving her too drained to move as the hot water continued to rain down on her. As darkness swept over her, the 287 voices that had all been whispering in her mind finally fell silent and she knew peace.

* * *

Alucard left Maria on the threshold of Hell and vanished back to his now seldom occupied chambers. He sat in the high-backed wooden chair and took a long drink of wine to wash away the infuriatingly delectable taste of the girl's blood.

He was still enraged by her insolence, so much so that he was tempted to rip out her throat entirely. It had only been thanks to the last tatters of his self-control that he had spared her life. How the little whippet thought she could speak to him that way was unfathomable. He would spend the next few weeks reeducating her in reverence.

The last few months since he had begun the ritual had passed in the blink of an eye to him. It felt as though they had moved from a mentor-like relationship to betrothal in the course of a day. For the most part, he was constantly impressed with how quickly and adroitly she embraced the dark powers he bestowed upon her. But other times, he had to resist the urge to dash her fragile skull into the wall to see her brains spill forth like egg yolk. That tongue of hers was the wickedest weapon in her arsenal after her wit, and she used it to ignite his fury more and more these days.

He was constantly puzzled by her shifts in personality. She could be as subservient and attentive as the best of slaves, and yet she was domineering and recalcitrant whenever it suited her. Accustomed to unwavering servitude from the people around him, Alucard had a hard time feeling anything other than outrage when she defied his wishes. Even more bewildering was how she had cowered in fear when he had some fun slaughtering the first squad of those humans in Brazil, yet when he was a flex of his fingers away from killing her she was nothing but insolent.

It was this obstinace that made him want to simultaneously obliterate and worship her. He had used the terror he inspired in others as one of his greatest tools since his human days, and she was the first to so easily face him in his most vicious temperaments. He despised the wriggling bud of respect that her rebellion fostered within him, and was puzzled by the sense of relief it also gave him. Mutiny of any kind had never left him with anything other than rancor, so why was it that this girl was different when she was to become his most intimate and trusted?

Humans were so profoundly complex, but Maria was the most confounding of them all. Even if given a millennium, Alucard doubted that he would be able to unravel all of her inner workings. There hadn't been a single night in which she hadn't surprised him in one way or another, whether it was the way she unflinchingly took on Bayonet Anderson and won or whether it was the way she refused to stop until she had seen every last one of their fallen men lain to rest. She could laugh and giggle with the Police Girl like an insipid schoolgirl, and yet she could also turn into a wrathful angel bent on destruction. The same lips that so easily gave sweet smiles could also deal the most crushing blows.

He hadn't been able to erase her words from his mind. He burned to know how she had known that sentence. It was the only utterance he knew of that could bring him to his knees and she had brandished it like a holy sword. He had assumed at first that she had dug through his deeply ensconced memories to find what would hurt him most, but even if she _could_ have invaded his fiercely fortified mind, she respected his privacy.

But if she hadn't sought out the line from his mind, how had she come to know it? It couldn't be chalked up as a mere coincidence. She had _known._ He thought to her ludicrous talk of the future, the bald certainty with which she stated what was to come.

 _Don't you feel it too?_ she had asked him in the shower, as though these dreams were as tangible as a breeze or the rain.

He wondered if perhaps there were more to this already hopelessly complicated girl. Was it possible that she could somehow divine things present and past at a subconscious level? Alucard couldn't claim that he could see the future persay, but he could feel the undulations of mankind like the swaying waves of meadow grass, and from that he could sense the approach of destruction and suffering. Perhaps she had a similar talent, except that she could interpret the undulations of individual souls instead? Though it was on a much smaller scale, she was already displaying many of his own abilities. Was this one more?

An intriguing concept, though it brought him no comfort. Contrarily it made him anxious. He had spent the last five centuries craving and fearing his death, a final end to it all, only to be told by this child that he would not have it. How was he to feel? A part of him certainly rejoiced, yet another despaired. It would be a pity to leave behind his lovely queen before they had ascended to their throne, but he had been consumed by a profound weariness for so many nights now. Rejuvenating and invigorating as she was, it wasn't entirely enough.

Upon drinking Tubalcain's blood and discovering the depths of depravity to which Millennium had sunken, Alucard had realized that this world would finally present him with a chance to perish and he had been glad. But then he had remembered Maria, who would surely fall into ruin without him. He felt the turmoil and guilt the soldiers' deaths had burdened her with, and he began to wonder if it were right to ruin such a _good_ creature merely because he selfishly sought companionship. In a rare bout of remorse he had decided to cast her away, to make her unfit to be his Queen and distance himself from her so that she could perhaps find some semblance of happiness in her brief mortal life after he had faded into oblivion.

But she had startled him again by viciously rebelling against him, assaulting him with her sharp words and keen emerald eyes until he relented. He had said it himself the night the ritual began: _There is no turning back once you begin walking down the path of the Night._ How had he forgotten? Come what may, they were to be King and Queen, and nothing short of their deaths would stop that. He had made this decision for them the night he found her as a babe, and there was no untangling the strings of Fate that had them tied together.

With his mind's eye he saw her on her bed, her skin like ivory and her chest rising and falling gently as she slept with her familiar. He had gravely wounded her and drank the vast majority of her blood, but it was now nightfall and she would begin healing. Seeing her usually lively face wan and her body so frail stirred something like guilt in him, but he quashed it quickly.

Maria had purposefully aggravated him. She had _wanted_ him to hurt her. A part of her that couldn't reconcile the human blood on her hands was crying out for punishment and wouldn't allow her to rest. He surmised that her remorse was the main cause of her anger with his apathy towards the humans who would undoubtedly be victim of the upcoming war. After all, she had long been aware of his indifference and possessed a small bit of it herself. Though she had been saddened by the loss of the Hellsing soldiers during the siege, it was nowhere near the sorrow that would be typical of a human.

Alucard didn't want her to linger in this self-condemnation. She kept irritating him even more than usual when she was like this, and she wasn't entertaining at all. He couldn't give her a heartfelt commiseration, but he could mete out whatever punishment she thought necessary if it would return her to her usual self.

He worried about how she would fare in this war. Physically, she would likely be able to fight even the strongest of the enemy forces, but mentally… Would she break from the weight of the massacre like the rest of the mortals, or would she throw it off her and rise to the challenge?

A part of him ached to be by her side. It was irksome just how quickly she had become an indispensable facet of his nights. He craved her touch and voice just as much as he craved her blood and vitality. They had spent nearly every night and day together since the ritual began, and each time he was absent from her for a prolonged period he could feel something fluttering in his chest. Concern? The very thought of being afflicted by such a human emotion vexed him, but he could not honestly deny its existence.

The night Anderson attacked her had been the worst. Integra had forbidden him from going to her aid and he was left to watch impotently from his chambers as he was overcome with a fury so intense it alarmed even him. Begrudgingly he had been able to admit his master's proper call in judgement after the fact. He would have reduced the entire paltry town to ash if he had gone there in that state. He had thought that the rage and concern would ebb upon her return, but they had only increased tenfold when he laid his eyes on her shattered form. For the first hour he thought that he was going to lose her like he had lost the other queens, to their own weakness and to his own inadequacy. She had surprised him again, though, when she fought and won the war against her wounds. When she awoke beside him and he was met with those brilliant emerald eyes, he felt his dead heart leap in his chest as gladness enveloped him like a soothing fire.

Warmth of that sort was a long lost sensation to the Nosferatu, who had been unable to name the emotion behind it until it had fallen from her lips so casually while they spied on the Police Girl and the Frenchman. _Love._ It was appalling how coolly she could dissect his soul and put it all on display for him. He had thought himself incapable of love, and it was true that he would sooner take a stake through the heart than attempt to woo someone, but her words came back to him again. She had told him that she had no desire for the traditional romantic love. The love she desired took the form of respect and devotion.

Alucard had brushed aside the conversation but had mulled it over in his mind for several hours. He certainly did respect Maria. Though he sometimes wondered if it was due to insanity, she had pledged to follow him forever, and she did so knowing full well the monstrosity of his being. She had witnessed his power and wrath, yet didn't fear standing up to him.

Devotion was much harder for the No Life King to feel. Respect he could confer to humans rather freely, but even in his days as a human he had demanded fealty instead of giving it. Out of all of the queens he had chosen over the centuries, Maria was the only one he had felt such a strong pull towards, as though her soul called out to his. Her touch was a balm, her smile a glimpse of Heaven. Alucard knew that should he lose her for whatever reason, he would not desire another queen. No matter how splendid a woman it was, she would forever reside in Maria's shadow. Perhaps this sentiment qualified as devotion.

He swirled the pinot noir about in the glass before finishing it and vanishing from the room. He had had his fill of introspection for the night.

* * *

Maria woke up in her bed to a throbbing pain in her neck that flared in time with each heartbeat. Her familiar was lying across her neck, its warm body pressed against her wound protectively. To her left was the wont presence of Alucard, cool and comforting. She looked up to see him on his side, gazing down at her with an unreadable stare. She could tell that he had managed to slake his anger, but she felt the need to apologize to him. Her guilt had caused her to lash out at him unnecessarily.

He put a gloved finger to her lips when she opened them to speak. "We were both rash. We'll speak no more of it."

A small smile grew on her lips at his words and she saw the warmth reflected in the crimson depths of his gaze.

"Drink so your wound will heal," he commanded.

"You nearly drained me," she whispered. "I'm going to drain you."

He gave her an incredulous raised eyebrow. "You can try."

Taking that as a challenge, she lifted her familiar off her neck and placed the kitten on the outside edge of the bed. It gave her a reproachful look, jealous to have lost her attention. The left side of her neck had been mangled by his fangs, deep lacerations were still leaking blood onto her pillow and bedsheets. It was more than enough to kill a regular human, and she was thankful for what weak regenerative abilities she had. She put a bracing hand on his bare shoulder and pulled herself up to reach the smooth porcelain column of his neck, despising how her frail limbs trembled with the effort. His gloved hands were on her sides and pulling her closer, so that their nude bodies were pressed fully against one another and her mouth was in the perfect position to bite into his jugular.

Her fangs extended of their own accord and she sank them into his flesh. A soft sigh of solace escaped her lips as his elixir met her tongue and she instantly felt the ache of her injury abate. Alucard kept a hand on her side and patiently allowed her to drink until she was sated.

 _How is it that you can bring me such comfort?_ she mused in his mind.

 _It defies all logic,_ he noted.

She chuckled. _You must regret picking such a pathetic girl as your queen._

 _You can be quite the thorn in my side,_ he allowed, a subtle hint of amusement in his tone, _but you aren't without merit._

He squeezed one of her ample breasts as his hard length pressed against her thighs and with a laugh she pressed closer to him, hungry herself for more contact.

 _Make your hair longer, please,_ she requested.

Bemused, he obliged her. She ran her fingers through his mid-back length locks, lifting them up and putting them over her head like a shroud. It was unnaturally cool and soft, like fog in a slightly more tangible form, and she loved it.

Her wounds had nearly healed and she felt well again, so she pulled away to give her king a thankful kiss that he quickly turned demanding. Before she knew it she was on top of him and struggling to maintain control of the embrace, but it was hard to do when he was rutting against her so wantonly.

His long hair had wrapped around her wrists, and she broke their kiss to stare into his ravenous gaze.

"At the risk of sounding devious," she said slowly, "is it just your hair that you can change at will?"

The grin that spilled across his lips was downright nefarious. He cupped her cheek as he said with a tease, "My sweet child, just how far have I corrupted you?"

"I'm ruined. Absolutely ruined," she whispered, a dark smirk of her own growing.

In the blink of an eye he had changed completely, almost unrecognizable if not for the same eternal ruby gaze. He-she-Maria corrected herself, had the same long black hair but with bangs, and she was young. Younger than Maria by at least a couple years, judging by the lack of breasts and hair. She was looking up at Maria expectantly.

"Umm…" She found herself trying to think of a nice way to say what was on her mind. "Maybe it's because I'm used to being with someone who's five hundred years old, but I'd prefer you to look a bit older than me."

"Not completely corrupted, then," she commented, and in the span of an exhale aged about five years. Her curves filled out nicely, nearly on par with Maria's, and she had grown a few inches taller. Maria gasped as she felt another pair of breasts against hers for the first time in her life. She had never specifically had an interest in the same sex before now, but Alucard was irresistible no matter what form he took.

Their first kiss was hesitant at the start, but it took only a moment of that unforgettable tongue for Maria to gain her confidence back and throw herself into the embrace with abandon. Their bodies fit together differently than usual, but they still fit. Alucard gave a husky, feminine chuckle as she wrapped her lithe legs around Maria's.

"You're always clamoring for me to fill you," she teased, her red eyes practically glowing with excitement. "Tonight I'll show you how it feels." Maria was about to ask what she meant by that, but she put a slender finger to the brunette's lips as she commanded, "Touch me."

Man or woman, Alucard was nothing if not imperious. Maria smiled and kissed her again before inching her way down the vampire's neck, collarbone, and finally to her breasts. She took a nipple in her mouth and gasped as she felt a warm mouth close over her own nipple. Pleasantly shocked, she looked up to Alucard for an explanation.

She merely leveled Maria with an amused, teasing look. "I didn't tell you to stop."

Maria hesitated for a moment before taking Alucard's pert nipple into her mouth again. She felt each swirl of her tongue on her own breast, and each caress she gave to Alucard she felt in turn. After a few moments she realized that he had opened their mental connection and was sharing his sensations with her. His pleasure was hers now, in every sense of the word.

It was difficult not to be overwhelmed by it all. The very nature of what they were doing was exciting enough as it was; it was almost too difficult for Maria to keep up with her ministrations. Alucard was grinning and her hands were lost in the brunette's curls as she worked her way slowly south with her tongue.

The two of them both let out a soft keen when Maria tentatively lapped at Alucard's wet pussy and the brunette felt it in kind. Her taste was sweet yet the tiniest bit bitter, and Maria felt as though she had discovered a rare flower in the middle of a desert. Her growing need on top of the Nosferatu's threatened to send her into madness. Twice as desperate for release and egged on by the way Alucard rocked her ready womanhood into Maria's face, Maria dove between her legs and laid siege on Alucard's core. Each swirl and suck of her tongue had the both of them writhing and arching their backs out of need.

"Use your fingers," Alucard ordered in a groan.

As penetration of any kind would forfeit her virginity, Maria had constantly been denied the one thing her body longed for most during their bouts in the sheets, and knowing that she would finally be able to experience it vicariously like this had her swallowing a whimper. She ran an index finger along Alucard's moist slit and then inserted it slowly into her waiting hole. Maria's whole body shivered as she felt the digit enter her own hot center, rubbing against her inner walls and making her crave something even more substantial.

She withdrew the digit and this time doubled it. Alucard was tight, so tight that these two fingers alone stretched her as they stretched Maria.

"Who do you think you're fooling with this?" Maria teased shakily as she pumped her fingers in and out languidly, savoring each new sensation of being filled to the point of bursting. "As if you're a virgin."

She hissed in ecstasy as Maria hit a particularly sweet spot. "Believe it or not, it's my first time doing this in this particular form."

A bolt of pleasure shot to Maria's core with the knowledge that she was, in a way, taking the No Life King's innocence. Well, she would have been if he had a scrap of it left.

Alucard must have heard her thoughts because she laughed, throaty and glad, before ordering, "Faster. Make me cum."

Maria leapt to obey, pistoning her fingers in and out of her as fast and as deeply as she could. The two of them moaned in unison as the ecstasy mounted higher and higher and when Alucard began rocking her hips to meet her thrust for thrust, allowing her to hit that hidden treasure within her, the two of them groaned unabashedly. She struck it again and again until she thought that they would both simply combust from the maddening heat. When she could take no more, she dove down and sucked ruthlessly on Alucard's swollen clit.

The reaction was instantaneous in the both of them as they found release at the same exact moment. Maria's body convulsed with the power of their combined orgaasms. She was struck by a tidal wave of pleasure and it was all she could do to collapse upon Alucard and ride it out. Alucard pulled her back to eye-level and claimed her mouth in a fiery, rewarding kiss as her hands roved the brunette's curves covetously.

After a few moments Maria was forced to pull away so she could catch her breath. Her chest was heaving and Alucard was grinning wolfishly up at her. No doubt her heart's frantic beat was music to her ears.

"Well?" she asked the human, a knowing glint in her crimson eyes.

Maria kissed her again savagely. "I can't believe you waited this long to show this to me."

Alucard laughed. "My love, what is a few months to you is but a night to me. I could hardly wait to share this with you."

Maria smiled and then rolled off her king to lie in their usual position. She found it even more comfortable now that she could rest her head on a soft breast.

"We'll have to work this into the rotation," Maria decided. "I like it."

"I agree."

They spent the next couple hours fooling around with Alucard's new form, finding out all the ways their bodies could slide together and just how many times they could make each other cry out.

Maria was usually aware of her surroundings at all times, and she was especially on alert during these activities due to Alucard's penchant for exhibitionism. But with his pleasure piled on top of hers to contend with, she was totally unable to focus on anything other than the No Life King (Queen?) and what she was doing with that inhumanly long tongue of hers.

This was why when the door opened and none other than their resident French mercenary strolled in she was caught completely unawares.

"Ma moitie, I need your advice on-Ce quoi ce bordel?!"

Maria's gaze snapped up to Bernadotte, who was standing in the doorway transfixed in shock as he saw the buxom raven-haired beauty on top of her.

"Ah, mercenary," Alucard greeted him calmly, rolling off Maria as she pulled the blanket over her human. Unconcerned with baring herself to the man, however, the vampire sat up so that only her waist down was obscured. "What is it?"

He could only open and close his mouth dumbly, rendered speechless as he took in the scene. Maria was beet red and had pulled the blankets up to her chin. She glowered over at Alucard and slapped her arm. "Have some decency, if you please. Your breasts are on display."

The vampire gave an apathetic shrug before turning her gaze back to the mercenary. "I don't mind if you stay there and watch, but this one is still a bit of a prude."

Maria scowled up at him. "Surely I've lost that title after tonight. Pip," she said gently, looking over to him once more. "Let's talk a bit later, yeah?"

He just stared dumbly at the two of them for a moment before jumping a bit, as though there was a lag between his ears and brain. "Right. Right. Yeah. I'll just go now. Jesus Christ." He practically ran out of the room.

Alucard laughed and lay down beside Maria, throwing an arm over her waist and pulling her tightly to her chest. "I think we nearly gave him a heart attack. Humans are such fragile creatures."

Maria didn't want to laugh, as she hated it when he put her in these embarrassing situations for his own amusement. However, the look on the mercenary's face had been priceless. "I bet you he runs to tell Seras about it."

"He's on his way to her now," Alucard confirmed. She turned back into his usual form, soft curves melting into planes of firm muscles.

Sad as she was to see her new playmate go, Maria was also pleased to have this old friend back. She turned around in his hold to put her nose to his chest and breathe in his scent.

"You're a fiend," she denounced him with a grin.

He wore an indulgent smile. "Yes. Now let's see what our fledglings do."

His choice of words didn't go unnoticed, but Maria chose not to bring attention to them. She contented herself with the feel of his cool presence as he shared his mind's eye with her through their mental link.

* * *

 **A/N:** This was one of the most challenging chapters to write out of the whole story. Writing from Alucard's point of view was fun, though difficult. Keeping him in character is such a chore! Thanks for reading as always.

Also, I'm working on an original fantasy novel. You can find it on fictionpress-I've left the link on my profile so please check it out. I'm absolutely dying for some feedback on it.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** Welcome back to another installment. I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

Bernadotte made a beeline down the halls and to Seras' chamber as he forced himself to think of the most hideous things imaginable to help wash away the image of Maria and the vampire. He thought he had known perversion, but tonight he learned that he knew absolutely nothing.

He knocked on her door loudly. While he knew that the draculina would never in a million years be up to something as devious as her master and friend were, he had been thoroughly spooked by the ordeal and wasn't about to take any chances.

The oaken door opened to reveal a tousle-haired, half-awake Seras in her pajamas of t-shirt and shorts. He had woken her despite the fact that it was nearing ten p.m.

"Captain," she greeted him drowsily. "What is it?"

"You're not going to _believe_ what I just saw Maria and the vampire doing," he blurted, his horror and fascination apparent.

"Sharks?" she asked boredly, opening the door wide for him.

"Non, non." He shook his head as he followed her into her room. It was nearly identical to Maria's, only there was a simple pine coffin against the opposite wall. Seras took a seat at the table and gestured to the chair beside it. He lounged back in the chair and lit a cigarette. "It was more like...every man ever's wet dream."

Her eyebrow rose in curiosity despite herself. "What do you mean?"

With his every word her cheeks grew incrementally redder until he thought she might explode from the indecency. Pip saw her discomfort but continued speaking, partly because he had heard it was cathartic to speak of trauma and partly because she was so damn cute when she was flustered.

"I just—they're so—there's no limits to their depravity!" Seras huffed once he had finished his tale. "Honestly, sometimes I don't know which of them is worse."

"My money's on Maria," he confided. "It's always the innocent-looking ones who turn out to be the wildest."

"Yes, but have you _seen_ my master?"

Pip couldn't help but laugh and Seras found herself smiling as well before she yawned.

"Why are you so tired? I thought you vampires couldn't sleep at night."

"That's usually the case, but I'm still exhausted from the flight and attending that conference," she explained. "Alucard and Maria are as lively as they are because they drink to their heart's content."

He wondered why she still refused to drink after all this time. It had to be excruciating to starve yourself like that and there were no benefits to it. He wanted to ask her, yet didn't feel that it was his place.

Instead, he rose to his feet and tucked the chair into the table. "I'll let you get your rest, then," he said. "I think I'll do the same myself."

"You're leaving?" It was slight, but there was a bit of disappointment in her question.

He gave her a wry smile. "Well, if I had known we were having a sleepover I'd have brought my pillow."

That adorable blush was dusting her cheeks again as she chewed on her lip before muttering, "I have an extra pillow."

Bernadotte couldn't believe his ears and also couldn't resist the opportunity to rile her. "Sorry. I didn't quite catch that, what with my inferior human hearing."

She looked up from her toes to him with an expression that managed to be both angry and abashed at the same time. "I have an extra pillow," she repeated.

Grinning, he took off his hat and placed it on the table. "Well, I may just take you up on your offer."

Seras looked anywhere other than him as he shamelessly stripped down to his boxers, leaving his clothes in a haphazard pile on the chair. So fixated on the grooves in the old flagstones was she that she didn't realize he had already crawled into her bed and was under the blankets.

"Do you guys sleep standing up or something?" he teased.

She gave a start and hesitantly got under the blankets, making sure to give him a wide berth. Bernadotte couldn't help but chuckle at her indecisiveness. She had been the one to invite him into her bed, yet here she was as timid as a mouse. He found it both endearing and slightly irritating. He wanted nothing more than to touch her. Her skin was chill to the touch, but while it would undoubtedly unnerve others, he enjoyed it. He was one of those unfortunate few hot-blooded individuals who couldn't sleep without a blanket over him. This meant that he was often doomed to toss and turn fitfully without a blanket or to slowly bake under them. Seras provided the perfect solution to his problems with her cool touch.

The vampiress in question was lying on the outside edge of the bed with her back to him. Bernadotte reached out for her with a calloused hand, and when his fingers fell upon her arm she didn't shy away. He tugged gently and she willingly scooted back so that her back was to her chest, though she was still reserved enough to keep her bottom from brushing against his crotch. Considering what he had just witnessed, that was probably for the best.

"You're so warm," she sighed as he put his arm around her waist.

"Does it bother you?" Perhaps he felt even hotter to the touch to her because of her lower body temperature. He hadn't considered that it could be causing her discomfort until now.

She said quickly, "No, no! On the contrary, it's great. I always feel cold."

Perhaps it was the diehard romantic in him, but Pip couldn't help but think that this was some sort of providence. She felt wonderful against his bare chest, even if there were a pesky cotton t-shirt in the way. He decided that he wouldn't mind falling asleep like this every night.

"I hate the cold so much that before Maria and Master started their weird ritual I used to sleep with her," Seras reminisced.

A flashback of what he had just seen appeared before his eyes and he was eternally grateful that she had decided to keep a space between their lower halves. He groaned, "For your sake and for mine, please don't mention anything about two women sharing a bed."

He felt her stiffen in his hold and for a moment he feared that he had scared her away, but then he heard her laughter, soft and carefree.

"Goodnight, Pip," she whispered, putting her small hand over his larger one on her stomach.

Resting his forehead against the back of her neck he replied, "Bonne nuit, ma cherie." He dared to place a chaste kiss on her neck and she gave a content sigh.

It was only a few minutes later that Seras totally relaxed in his arms, sound asleep. How she ceased breathing when she drifted off was a bit unnerving at first, but he found that he didn't mind. He could still tell that she was alive because of the way her fingers twitched slightly against his. He wondered if vampires could dream.

He also thought about the swell of her voluptuous breasts and how achingly close they were to his itching fingers. Now that she was asleep, perhaps he could just brush against them as if by accident, just-

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard two voices echo in unison in his mind, threatening and ominous.

 ** _No._**

 _Merde, let a man have some privacy! I was just thinking about it!_ he exclaimed, a frown on his lips. Last time it had only been Maria, but now the vampire was joining in on spying on him too? This was all a bit too Big Brother for his liking.

 _Pleasant dreams then,_ Maria said sweetly. _What sort of advice did you need earlier?_

The mercenary smiled. _You can forget about that. It was a success anyways._

* * *

Seras awoke feeling warm, safe, and well-rested. Just like in Sao Paolo, she found herself hopelessly tangled with the captain, only this time she didn't try to extricate herself. She was content to simply be squeezed against him, absorbing his warmth. The man was truly a human furnace. It was a wonder he didn't shy away from her cool touch.

She really couldn't believe that she had summoned up the audacity to invite him into her bed last night but she had no doubt that it had been the right decision. It was only the second time in her life that she had felt so at peace, the first time being back in Brazil.

There was only one thing that was troubling her. At some point in the night their positions had changed so that they were facing each other, and the captain's face was currently buried in her breasts. His tawny hair tickled her chin and she blushed as she felt his warm, moist breath through the thin cotton t-shirt.

Seras told herself not to panic. He was sound asleep and likely didn't realize where he had wound up. Besides, while his face was certainly in forbidden territory, his hands were safely on her lower back. One of his legs was between hers so that his thigh was against her crotch, which was a little too close for comfort. However, he didn't appear to be sporting a hard on so maybe it was just an accident that they had wound up like this. When other people were around he was as perverted as they came, but when it was just the two of them he had been nothing but gentlemanly. For the most part.

A quick glance at the clock showed that it was seven p.m. The two of them were expected to lead the men in training starting at 7:30.

"Captain," she called softly. When he didn't move, she tried, "Pip?"

This time he stirred a little by nuzzling deeper into her breasts and pulling her even tighter against him.

"Pip," she hissed, shaking him gently. "Wake up."

"What?" he muttered, not moving.

"We need to get up and get ready. And you need to get your head away from where it is."

At her words, he seemed to realize precisely where he was. He pulled away from her slowly and looked up to her with a worried expression, gauging her reaction. When he saw that she was only blushing embarrassedly he gave her a contrite smile.

"You and I are both the clingy type," he stated, "so I hope you don't take it the wrong way if we continue waking up like this."

Seras' cerulean eyes widened in surprise. He wanted to sleep with her again? He wanted to wake up beside her? Tangled up with her? She felt something warm and heady in her chest.

"Of course," she agreed, trying not to belie her glee. "But if you even _think_ about using it as an excuse to fondle me, you'll regret it."

"I know," he groaned, looking put out for a moment before his easy smile returned. "Before we get out of this bed, there's something I've got to tell you though."

Seras became concerned at his serious tone. "What is it?"

The mercenary pulled himself up so he was at eye level with her before he pressed his lips to hers in a chaste, warm kiss. Startled, the draculina gasped and he took her open mouth as an invitation—which, to his credit, Seras supposed it was—and their tongues danced a leisurely rhythm that had her wishing desperately that they didn't have to report for duty that night.

Pip pulled away, his olive eye twinkling mischievously as though he knew exactly what she was thinking. "Good evening," he greeted, and then untangled himself from her.

A soft sigh of mixed longing and satisfaction escaped her lips as she watched him cross the room in his boxers. He was truly a joy to look at, with his toned body and scars that spoke of his strength.

His ass was pretty nice, too.

Seras had to resist the urge to slap her hands over her mouth in mortification. What on earth had possessed her to think such a thing? She could only blame Maria's horrible influence.

Now the man in question had donned his cargo pants and the white tank top he wore under the jacket and he was in the process of undoing his messy braid. Without even consciously deciding to, Seras took his hands from his long locks and guided him back to the bed.

"Ma cherie, I don't think we have time for another round of Twister," he warned her.

She gave him a venomous look before sitting down on the bed behind him and braiding his hair with her nimble fingers.

"You're not funny," she sniffed.

"I'm hilarious."

"I'll braid your hair into a noose."

He chuckled at her empty threat and allowed her to continue her work in silence. She was done in a matter of minutes and wrapped the braid around his neck as she had seen him do before. If she wrapped it a little tightly, she pretended not to notice.

"Thank you," he said, coughing a bit as he loosened it slightly. He flashed her a grin as he put his hat back on. "I'll see you soon."

Seras waved him goodbye and once the door was shut let out a squeal of delight. She had taken a risk by indulging her wants and asking him to stay, and it had been completely worth it. Her mind kept replaying his words over again and her heart leapt to know that he wanted to sleep with her again.

Caught up in imagining waking up beside him again, Seras completely forgot the time until Maria's voice flitted into her head.

 _What's the holdup? You're always early to training._

"Crap!" The vampiress threw on her uniform and grabbed in weapon in record speed. _Coming!_

Maria laughed. _So...are you going to give me the details or what?_

 _What do you mean?_ It was probably useless, but Seras attempted to feign innocence.

 _Oh, please. Bernadotte won't stop whistling and you're late, both of which are highly unusual._

Seras bounded up the stairs two at a time and outside toward the wide field they would be using for training that night. She said quickly, _We just fell asleep together. And kissed a little this morning._

 _Ooh! And was he chivalrous?_

 _...Yeah._

Maria picked up on Seras' hesitation immediately. She could practically see the brunette's wicked smile in her mind. _That was a pregnant pause if I ever heard one._

 _Can we please talk about this after training?_ Seras pleaded.

Her friend's silver laughter sounded in her mind and the vampire breathed a sigh of relief. She was saved, for now.

* * *

Until now, Maria's tasks had varied night to night but she still had a reasonable amount of downtime for studying or relaxing. Ever since the night of the Round Table conference and the war declaration a month and a half ago, however, she had been busy from sundown to sunup each night. Her lessons with Mr. Willows had been canceled indefinitely, and in lieu of them she was training with the Wild Geese or being deployed on missions. Millennium had been dispatching their manufactured vampires all around the UK for some time now, but now they were appearing in droves. Nearly every other night they were given orders to lay a freak to rest, and sometimes there were even two incidents in one evening. Alucard was thrilled by this, as it abated his boredom, but Maria couldn't adopt his same enthusiasm. She loved killing these imposter vampires as much as he did, but in the back of her mind she knew that this was the prelude to a much greater conflagration and she couldn't help but fear what was to come.

She was target shooting at the range when Walter tapped her on the shoulder from behind.

"Walter, what can I do for you?" she asked with a smile.

"A mission for you," he said cordially. "You are to take twelve men with you to Manchester to slay a vampire."

She holstered her pistol and took the written orders from his outstretched hand. "Understood. Thank you."

"Good luck," he wished and then turned to leave.

Maria phased here and there across the grounds to round up the soldiers assigned to her and ordered them to ready a vehicle. Lastly she phased to her chambers to grab her greatsword before meeting them at the large Jeep.

"We're heading to a village near Manchester where this is a male vampire that needs to be put down," she explained as her familiar sat primly on her shoulder and surveyed the men with its piercing crimson eyes. "According to the latest intel gathered an hour ago, he has few ghouls at his command and should be fairly easy to take down. The situation could change between now and our arrival, however. We will stay in groups of no less than three men at all times and you will defer to me before deviating from protocol. Is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," they chorused.

She dropped the serious demeanor to grin sweetly at everyone. "Let's go kill some freaks, then!"

The men all piled into the back of the covered Jeep except for her second in command for the mission, a lanky raven-haired American named Hayden. He was in his thirties and had been with the Wild Geese for nearly a decade. He and a handful of the other men had at first balked when Sir Integra had announced to them all a month ago that Maria would be promoted from private to Lieutenant, the rank directly below both Seras and Bernadotte, who were Captains. Bernadotte had vouched for her but there were still some men who didn't believe that this peculiar girl could lead them.

She had changed their opinion not long afterward when she had taken them on a mission and anticipated an ambush from a second, unreported vampire working in tandem with their original target. Thanks to her heightened senses and speed, she had managed to save all of the men from what could have easily turned into a massacre. It had been a turning point and she had won their respect as their leader.

Hayden and Maria chatted as she sped toward their mission. Walter had taken the time to teach her how to drive properly and she relished the freedom that came with it. Not that she had the time or permission to go for joyrides or anything though. Her familiar bounded alongside the vehicle, delighted at the chance for some bloodshed.

Alucard's baritones drifted into her mind just as she neared the suburb, sounding musing. _I'll be interested to see how you handle this mission._

 _What do you mean? It's routine, according to the intel._

 _You'll soon see,_ was his enigmatic response.

Maria frowned as a sense of foreboding crept upon her at his words. He was nearly always watching her through their mental connection when she had a mission, even when he was on one of his own, but it was rare for him to make such a comment. She was used to him complimenting her ruthlessness or laughing at the pitifulness of the vampires she killed, but he never offered her advice or warnings. She would be a useless queen if she couldn't think and fight by herself.

She slowed to a stop in a church parking lot. The consecrated ground made her feet burn and her head throb, but it was the safest base for the men. Her familiar waited for her in the street.

Maria fanned out her shadows, using them as feelers to sense the vampire and its ghouls' presences. It was five blocks away to the north in a multi-story building, surrounded by a sizeable force of ghouls. They seemed somehow weaker than the usual freaks, and Maria wondered if Millennium was resorting to the dregs to do their dirty work.

The soldiers all got out of the jeep and gave their equipment a final onceover. Maria ran down their objectives and the location of the vampire, and then led the way. The dozen men followed her in loose rows of three, guns at the ready. Though they were heading through a very suburban area full of nice brick homes there was no sign of life. The streetlights had been doused and all residents had been given an emergency curfew by the local police.

The closer they got the more distinct the enemy's presence became. "There's approximately fifty ghouls," she said to the men. "That's six to a person if I just focus on the vampire."

"Is it a very strong vampire?" Hayden asked beside her.

"It doesn't seem that way," she said guardedly. "Feels like he's our average fare. The ghouls seem odd though. Weaker than usual." When she felt a few of the men behind her perk up at the news she turned back and leveled them with her sharp emerald eyes. "Don't go in there thinking it's going to be a walk in the park. That's the stupidest thing you could do."

Chastised, the men nodded.

Hayden stopped in his tracks and looked up at the four-story brick building they stood before. "Maria, are you sure this is the right place?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"It's...it's an orphanage."

Maria had been so focused on heading toward the target that she hadn't been concerned about exactly _where_ the target was. A glance up revealed the words "Brimfield Home for Children" in bronze letters above the double doors and her heart plummeted. So that was why the ghouls had seemed so small and weak in her mind.

She took her hand away from the haft of the greatsword on her back in favor of the Derringer. She couldn't bring herself to use something so messy tonight.

Her voice as heavy as her heart, she said to the men, "The vampire has turned the children into ghouls. It goes without saying, but aim only for the head or heart to make it as quick as possible."

All of the soldiers recoiled at her words as the gravity of the situation set in. They would be marching in there to slaughter children.

Maria turned to the small black kitten mewling impatiently as it rubbed against her leg. "Sorry, but you're going to have to restrain yourself tonight," she told it. "We don't prolong the suffering of children." The cat looked baleful. "You'll be backup if any of the men are about to be overwhelmed."

Begrudging but loyal, it gave her a nod.

"The vampire is on the fourth floor currently," Maria told the men, clearing her throat and trying to rein in the remorse and fury she felt. "We will clear each floor and progress toward the vampire in unison."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Gritting her teeth and attempting to steel herself for the undoubted horror that was waiting behind those doors, Maria took a deep breath and then ran up the concrete steps to break one of the tall doors down with a shadow-enhanced kick. It rocketed off its hinges and fell in splinters to the ground, and she charged in. The foyer led straight to a large dining hall, and to her left and right were staircases that would take them to the second floor. There were five children on the stairs, none of them older than ten. Their faces were ghastly, hair hanging limply around their sallow, sunken flesh. They stared at Maria and the Hellsing soldiers with dead, milky eyes, and as the scent of a meal met their noses their mouths opened to reveal rows of jagged teeth.

In her ten years of service, she had seen her share of the macabre. She had witnessed the darkest, foulest pits of humanity and monstrosity a hundred times over.

But this— _this_ —was the worst.

She squeezed the trigger and with each blast there followed a thud as a small body fell still. Her face set in a grimace, she motioned for the soldiers to follow her up the stairs. Her familiar padded along beside her looking bored.

The second floor consisted of a long hallway that had four large dormitory-style bedrooms opening off it. The usual protocol would be to have squads of three or four men secure each room at the same time, but she could see that most of the men were badly shaken and dreading what they would find on the other side of the door. She also knew that some of them had children of their own.

She motioned for them to hold their position in the hallway and phased into the first room to find three more ghouls. One of the boys couldn't have been older than six. They hissed like wild animals at the sight and smell of her, but Maria put a bullet in their heads before they could reach her.

Her fingers shook as she watched their frail little bodies turn to dust. What had it been like to be turned? Maria couldn't imagine how frightening it must have been for them.

She phased into the next room and took out an additional six ghouls. Each shriek and thump was another storm that raged inside her until by the time she had cleared the fourth room her entire body was shaking with the fury. There was a tempest of vehement anger consuming her.

Unforgivable. The deepest pit of Hell still wouldn't be punishment enough for this monster.

"Find the vampire," she ordered her familiar in a low hiss. "Play with him all you want, but do not kill him."

The cat flashed her a gleeful look and shifted into his monstrous shadowy form before darting through the wall.

The second floor cleared and secured, Maria used the door to return to the hallway where the soldiers were obediently waiting. They all stared at her with expressions of horror when she came into their view, and she realized that in her ire her face had changed. Taking a deep breath, she felt her fangs shrink into regular human teeth and her eyes soften from their icy, almost serpentine glare.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "I've never wanted to kill a vampire more in my entire life."

Hayden put a large hand on her shoulder and gave her a hard but commiserating frown. "We're with you," he said simply.

She gave him a soft smile of thanks and then reloaded her Derringer. "On to the third floor, then. Same as this floor."

A bit of hesitation was in Hayden's brown eyes as he said, "You don't have to do it all by yourself."

"I know," she admitted. "But I don't want this to rest on your shoulders."

He gave her a nod that was both understanding and grateful and then took a step back, allowing her to lead them up the stairs and closer to the vampire. She phased through all of the rooms and eliminated each ghoul as quickly as possible. Each bullet fired was another crushing weight on her soul and another stone of hate filling her to burst.

Maria heaved a sigh of relief when the last ghoul, a girl of seven in green pajamas, fell into rest. Now it was only the vampire left, and she could hear its pained screams in the room at the far end of the hallway.

"I intend to take my time with this bastard," Maria warned her men. "In the meantime, check the entire building again for ghouls and any sort of information we can gather on this vampire and his affiliations."

"Get him good," one of the soldiers said.

When Maria grinned, it was the shark-toothed, mad smile of the No Life King. Barely able to contain her excitement, she stowed her Derringer away and dashed to room at the end of the hall as she slipped on a pair of black leather gloves. She entered the room to see her massive, shadowy cat on top of the vampire, hissing mere centimeters from his terrified face. Her familiar must have been hungry, though, because there was only a bloody hole where the vampire's nose should have been.

"Good work," she thanked the beast. It looked to her with his many red eyes, pleased. "Now it's my turn."

Her familiar dug its claws into the vampire's chest one final time before stepping off him to allow Maria access. The vampire instantly made to get up and flee, but the brunette just grinned maniacally as she rammed a wooden stake through its right hand and into the floor, pinning him. She did the same to his left hand and both his feet in a matter of seconds and he howled in agony.

She crouched down on her haunches beside his face and peered into his teary, panicked pink eyes. "Do you know how many ghouls you made?" Maria asked calmly.

When he did nothing but whimper and snivel she reached her fingers into his exposed nasal cavity and spread them apart, threatening to split his face open, and he screamed afresh.

She removed her fingers and unhurriedly wiped the blood and mucous off on his sweater. "Answer my question."

"F-f-forty-seven?" he whimpered.

"Fifty-one, you swine," she corrected in a hiss. "Normally I'd just put a bullet in your head and be done, but I think that's too good for you." The blessed knife in her gloved hand caught in the moonlight coming in through the window, and the glint of the blade was nearly as keen as the glint of her fangs as she gave him a snarling grin. "When you flay a human they usually die by the time you reach the waist. I wonder how long a vampire can manage?"

The vampire struggled against the stakes futilely, screaming and begging for his life, but Maria's grin only widened as she brought the knife to his temple and began slicing. He shrieked and wailed in a truly disgraceful way as the holy blade burned with the heat of a hundred suns. The No-Life Queen chuckled as she continued cleaving his flesh from muscle. It was like peeling a peach, juicy and satisfying.

With each strip of skin she removed, her heart grew lighter. This base creature had tortured and ruined those sweet children. He had robbed them of their chance of a full and happy life, and Maria would see that he received pain and terror tenfold. She could do nothing to undo the suffering he had brought upon the innocent kids, but she could return it in kind.

Maria worked in silence minus a few soft giggles when he gave a particularly agonized cry, and while she would have preferred to prolong his suffering for at least several hours, she couldn't make her men wait that long. Though it was her first time doing anything of this nature, it came so naturally to her that it was a little uncanny. Within thirty minutes she had divested the vampire of every last bit of skin. His pound of flesh was in a bloody pile on the floor, leaving him screaming as his exposed nerves seared from the cool air and the lingering sting of the blessed blade.

Her familiar sat beside her the entire time, watching with amusement. Maria turned to it and said with a smile, "Time for a reward for your good work. Eat the heart and head last."

The massive shadowy beast rubbed its head gratefully against Maria's before turning to the vampire with a hungry, gleeful look in its multitude of eyes.

Feeling brand new, Maria wiped the blade clean and returned it to the sheath on her thigh as her familiar devoured the vampire bite by bite. She knew for a fact that it was capable of swallowing him in one great gulp if it desired, and was pleased that her familiar wanted this pathetic creature to suffer as much as she did.

When the beast finished its meal and finally the vampire's cries ceased, it turned back into its black kitten form and leapt onto Maria's shoulder. She stroked its back and scratched its neck as it purred.

"Let's get back home," she smiled.

The cat nodded. Maria glanced around the room a final time and then headed down the long hallway to the stairs. She was just about to descend them when she felt a presence so faint she thought perhaps she had imagined it. A human energy so flickering and weak it had been drowned out by the ghouls' and vampire's presence.

Maria doubled back, focusing her energy to her third eye. She followed the energy into a room she had already cleared. This room had had two adult ghouls in it, women whom Maria assumed had been the headmistresses of the orphanage. There was a mahogany wardrobe against the wall, and the curly-haired girl opened it slowly.

A gasp escaped her lips as she parted the hanging coats and dresses to see a girl cowering in the fetal position. No more than four years old with a wan face, harrowed brown eyes, and tangled copper curls she looked up at Maria tremulously.

Maria held out her hands and whispered, "It's okay. We've come to save you. The bad man is gone."

The girl looked distrustful, but Maria's warm smile was genuine as she beckoned to the girl. The child let out a wail and threw herself into Maria's arms, wrapping herself around her middle with surprising tenacity. Maria put her arms around the girl instantly and held her closely as she bawled. Face buried in the brunette's long girls at the nape of her neck, her entire body trembled like a leaf. Intel had said that the vampire had been sighted in the town two days ago. Was that how long this child had been cowering? Had she heard everything that had happened? Had she been trapped in here with those two adult ghouls Maria had killed?

Would this poor child ever be alright?

Maria's heart broke as she cradled the girl. She cursed herself for not sensing the girl earlier. She cursed herself for letting the vampire die so quickly. Thirty minutes should have been thirty years, and even then it wouldn't have been enough to make up for what this girl and all the others had been put through.

"Shh, shh," she soothed. "You're safe now. No one can hurt you now. My friends and I are going to take you to a new home."

The little thing was inconsolable. She was crying so hard she didn't seem to have heard Maria. The black kitten was still perched on Maria's other shoulder, regarding the distraught child with curiosity. It was perhaps the first time the creature had ever seen such a small human, or such a show of raw emotion.

Maria took the stairs slowly, still holding the girl who clung to her as though her life depended on it. At the first floor Hayden and the other eleven men were sitting around waiting for her, and they all jumped up when they heard the girl's sobs.

"One survivor," Maria said. "Her presence was so faint I missed it. We'll have to take her to the authorities."

Hayden nodded and they left the cursed orphanage together with Maria leading them. The girl's sobs eventually died down to sniffles, but she never lifted her head or slackened her hold. She took passenger and Hayden took driver's seat and they headed to the local police station, which was abreast of the situation.

The police chief and his deputy were waiting for Maria and the child at the threshold of the station.

"She's the only survivor," Maria explained. "The vampire and its ghouls have all been dealt with."

The two men had the typical stunned look that all people had when they came into contact with Hellsing. "Thank you for your services," the chief said after he had arranged his thoughts. "We'll take care of the girl."

The deputy reached out for her, but when Maria tried to hand her to him the girl let out a squeal and gripped Maria even more fiercely than before.

"Sweetie, these are good men," she assuaged. "They're going to take care of you and find you a new home."

The child shook her head vehemently. "No. I wanna stay with you."

Maria's heart shattered even further at her words. "I'm sorry, but you can't. It's my job to fight bad men and you'd be in danger."

"I don't care. You'll keep me safe."

She turned to the police. "What will you do with her?"

"We'll arrange for her to be transferred to a different orphanage, but in the meantime she'll be placed with a local foster family."

"And when will the foster family come?"

"We'll call them immediately and have them come first thing in the morning."

Maria took a moment to consider her options and then tilted her head down to whisper in the girl's ear, "You can't stay with me, but in a few hours there's going to be a nice family that will come to take care of you." The girl began shaking her head again, but Maria continued, "How about I stay with you until they come? I'll make sure that they're good people, and I'll only let you go with them if I'm certain that they'll take good care of you."

The girl was silent as she thought over Maria's words.

"Well? What do you think?" she prodded.

"O...okay. But if they're bad I'm not going with them."

"Of course," she smiled. She looked to the two police officers. "Let me explain the situation to my men. You wouldn't mind if I imposed until morning, would you?"

"Certainly, be our guest," the chief said quickly. "We'll ready a hot meal for you and the girl."

Maria thanked him and then returned to Hayden, who was waiting for her in the Jeep. She told him to take the men back to headquarters and get some rest, and that she would return in the morning.

"Understood," he said with a smile. He handed her a rucksack full of civilian clothes that they kept at the ready in case a mission dragged on to morning, as her short-sleeved, short-skirted uniform showed a dangerous amount of skin. "You'd make a good mother, y'know that?"

She was left to puzzle over his words as he saluted and drove off. The toddler still had her arms and legs tightly around Maria's neck and torso, and as the police officers escorted her into the station and to their break room where a modest assortment of hot sandwiches, soup, and drinks were waiting on a table, Maria thought about Hayden's compliment.

There had been no other children in the Hellsing manor. Constantly surrounded by adults and a five-century old vampire had made her woefully inexperienced with little ones. Tonight was the first time in her life she had ever held one. Since she had always known that she would become Alucard's queen, the thought of having children of her own had never even crossed her mind.

But now, as she coaxed the girl on her lap to take a bite of a ham and cheese sandwich, she reconsidered it. Seeing the girl slowly but surely come out of her shell as she relaxed around Maria filled her with a sense of relief she hadn't known she lacked until now. Walking the line of monster and human was no easy feat, and as the amount of Alucard's blood she consumed increased the more she worried that she was losing her humanity.

This little girl was like a pleasant fire in the winter, warming Maria's heart and returning the sensations she had feared she was losing.

The child contented herself by playing with Maria's long curls, saying little. Maria told the girl to get some sleep, but the toddler wanted to stay with Maria as long as possible and refused. This was inconvenient for the teen, who still had the greatsword strapped to her back and was forced to sit sideways on the chair to accommodate it, not to mention all of her other bulky weapons and equipment. The girl cried whenever Maria tried to set her down, though, so she was stuck battle-ready.

Her familiar gave a demanding mewl and Maria sighed, taking the ham out of her sandwich and giving it to the cat as she muttered, "Like you didn't just have a feast."

"Kitty!" the girl exclaimed, smiling for the first time that night.

Maria shot the familiar a warning look. _Put on your best cute kitten act and play nicely with her._

The cat rolled its eyes but then padded to the child's outstretched hand and gave it a sniff before rubbing against her. She giggled and stroked the cat gently.

"What's the kitty's name?" she asked Maria.

"Uh…" Alucard had told her that a denizen of hell didn't need a name. He always referred to his simply as "dog" and disdained the name "Mr. Eyes" that she had given it as a child. Maria hadn't given her familiar a name for that reason. She said the first thing that came to her mind. "Suflețel."

"What's that mean?"

"Little soul," she translated, and as she did so she sensed her familiar's pleasure in her mind. It seemed that it appreciated being given a name.

The girl seemed unable of saying the foreign word, however, and called her familiar "Souffle" the entire time they played. If the cat was rankled by it, it didn't show as she batted playfully at the girl's fingers and made a show of trying to catch her own tail.

The child's carefree laughter was a balm to Maria, who watched with a lazy smile as the two of them played in her lap. Briefly, she imagined an alternate reality where she had a daughter with her emerald eyes and his inky black hair. She would be precocious and graceful, sweet but with an undeniable streak of darkness.

She shook her head to dispel the thought almost as quickly as it had appeared. A longing intense and jagged lashed her like hail and she quickly began reciting the Periodic Table of Elements mentally to distract herself. There was no point in pining for something that would never—could never—be.

Her familiar managed to coax the girl off Maria's lap to play on the tile floor, and the brunette used the opportunity to take off her weapons and change into her civilian clothes of black tights, short burgundy skirt, and charcoal turtleneck. She stowed the guns into the canvas rucksack with her uniform and watched as her greatsword vanished. Alucard must have been kind enough to whisk it back to her chambers for her.

As much joy as the child was having chasing the kitten around, exhaustion was finally taking its toll on her. She picked up the kitten and came over to Maria, who was sprawled out on the couch watching the two. The girl wordlessly lay down on her lap with the kitten in her arms, her face resting against Maria's bosom.

The brunette ran her fingers through the child's tangled curls, gently working out the knots. There was a nappy blanket on the back of the couch and she spread it over them both before planting a soft kiss in the girl's hair.

"Good night," she whispered.

"Night," the child replied drowsily, and in a matter of moments was fast asleep.

Maria dozed off herself, and a few hours later was awoken by a police officer who brought in the foster family that would take the girl in. The child was at first as suspicious of the newcomers as she had been of Maria, but upon Maria's assurances reluctantly agreed to go with them. The husband and wife were in their thirties and seemed like decent people. Maria memorized their names and upon her return to the manor would ask Walter to do a background check on them just in case.

"Will I get to see you and Souffle again?" the girl asked.

Maria forced a smile onto her lips as she lied, "Maybe."

The child threw her arms around Maria's legs in a final hug. "Thank you," she gushed.

"No problem. You be good, okay? Take care." It was the first time in a long time that Maria's throat had burned with something other than thirst.

The girl nodded and took the hand of the foster mother, and just like that the three of them were gone. It felt as though they had taken part of her with them by mistake.

"Miss, your car has arrived," the officer informed her.

"Ah, wonderful." Maria hastily wiped her cheeks and grabbed her bag. She donned her deep-hooded black peacoat and gloves before heading out the back of the station where one of the Hellsing standard issue black cars was idling. She got into the back seat and the driver greeted her. She had seen him about the estate. Perhaps his name was Mark.

She looked out the heavily tinted windows and to the scenery, feeling tired but not because it was daytime. The trip home seemed much longer than it actually was, and she thanked the servant before taking her bag and dragging her feet down to her chambers. Wanting nothing more than to curl up beside Alucard, who was asleep on her bed already, she resisted the urge and sat down at the table to pen her mission report. It was nearing noon by the time she had finished writing and taken a quick shower.

Spent, she collapsed in the bed beside the vampire, who stirred at the sudden warmth. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against his bare body, and a soft sigh of comfort escaped her lips with the familiar action. Even asleep he managed to bring her respite. Slumber came quickly to her, and in her dreams she was visited by a little girl with emerald eyes and long, mercurial black hair….

* * *

 **A/N:** What did you think of this chapter? I always love writing Seras/Pip, though I find it more difficult to write than Alucard/Maria. Review and follow, por favor! :)


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:** Hello again. Welcome to Chapter 15.

* * *

Maria awoke to find Alucard lying beside her on his side, staring at her with a probing, omnipotent gaze. It was a rather unnerving thing to wake up to.

"Good evening," she greeted.

"Why did you dream of that girl?" he asked immediately.

"What?" It took her mind a moment to dredge up her dreams. She blushed in embarrassment as she realized what he was referring to. "That? It was just a dream."

He was unconvinced. "You thought of her when you were playing with that human girl as well."

"For a split second," she countered. "It's perfectly natural for a woman to imagine what her children would look like. Even if it won't happen."

"I can give you kingdoms and subjects, treasures and power untold. But I cannot give you that." It wasn't an apology; it was a caution.

"I know. It was a fleeting musing. Please don't overthink it."

His gloved hand gripped her waist as he said, "Even if I had the desire to, I couldn't." It was subtle, but for a moment Maria thought she could see a flicker of sorrow in his crimson gaze.

She gave him a nod of understanding and changed the subject, knowing that he would want to delve no further into this topic. "Tell me what you think of how I killed the vampire. I've been dying to hear your impression."

He grinned fiendishly. "Flaying—how delightfully traditional. The blessed blade was a nice touch, though your technique was lacking."

"I'll practice," she promised, a smile of her own curling her lips. "I've decided a law for when we're King and Queen. The punishment for killing or turning a human child is flaying."

"A different punishment per crime is such a hassle. Impalement is suitable for any transgression."

Maria rolled her eyes. "Impalement wouldn't kill a vampire unless it went through their heart, though. Why don't we flay them, impale them at sunset, and then let them wait for the sun to rise."

"A woman after my own heart," he growled, and then he was kissing her voraciously.

She laughed as he situated himself on top of her, his long hair hanging down like a curtain so the only thing she could see was his brutally handsome face. The increased mission load had seriously been cutting into their time together. As it was, she only had half an hour before she was to report for training.

"No making me late again," she warned him as he bit and licked his way south. "Sir Integra isn't going to be pleased."

She knew the moment he flashed her a devious smirk that she had chosen her words poorly. There was nothing Alucard enjoyed more than displeasing his master.

They had only just begun when suddenly Alucard sat up from between her legs, his hands still gripping her spread thighs as a surly frown crossed his face.

"It's like she enjoys being a cockblock," he muttered, and then faded into the bed.

 _Put on some clothes!_ Maria yelled.

His laugh echoed in her mind and she huffed angrily. If she revealed herself to anyone like that, he would turn any onlookers into unrecognizable splatters.

Figuring that Sir Integra would only call on him for a mission or something equally important, Maria got out of bed and got dressed in her uniform. Walter came in presently with a tray of food for her.

"How are you this evening?" he asked.

"Same as ever," she smiled as she took a bite of egg. "And you?"

"Very well," he replied. "Have you prepared your mission report from last night?"

She handed him the file on the table and he perused it with raised eyebrows. "You flayed the vampire?"

"Shooting him seemed too kind," she shrugged.

The butler wore a wry smile as he shook his head. "You are quite the terror, my dear."

She grinned, "I learned from the best. But about the survivor—I know that you're extremely busy, but I was wondering if you could find the time to investigate that foster family. Make sure she's in good hands. She's been through enough already."

"I'll look into it straight away. Maria, if you'll permit me to be frank, I've been meaning to ask how you're taking this all."

She looked up from her glass of blood and to Walter, who was fixing her with a kindly, earnest gaze. He took a seat beside her.

"It's only been a few months since you started the ritual with Alucard," he elaborated, "and in that short time you've gone through a considerable amount of changes. The war with Millennium is also looming."

Maria was deeply touched by his fatherly concern. Other than Alucard, Walter had long been the most constant fixture in her life. He had tended to her when she was an infant and had been the one to teach her almost everything, from how to dress herself to how to drive a car. He was the closest thing to a parent that she had. Recently, as her duties with Hellsing mounted and her relationship with Alucard deepened, she had less and less time to spend with him. She used to spend many an evening helping him with his mountain of duties, but now they really only had contact when he brought her meals or missions. Her driving lessons with him had been a brief but delightful treat.

"I think I'm alright," she said slowly, mulling everything over. "It's certainly been a bit of a roller coaster, though. Alucard's power helps me get through it, but sometimes I worry that I'm a bit too much like him at times. I do worry about the war. I worry about the men and all the innocent people that will get caught up in it."

He nodded. "Those are perfectly reasonable concerns. But I and rest of the men feel that you are still much more human than you are monster. I heard from Hayden that you elected to eliminate all of the ghouls last night instead of having the soldiers do it. A selfless act, but a heavy burden for one person to bear."

Maria looked away from his sharp blue eyes and to her hands on the table. "I figured that it'll become a distant memory to me as the centuries pass, but they could hold onto it until they die."

"That's a noble sentiment, my dear, but you must be careful not to bite off more than you can chew. Don't be afraid to rely on your comrades."

She pulled him into a hug that he gladly returned. "Thank you, Walter," she whispered. "I know I can always trust you."

"Any time," he smiled, and then rose to his feet with the mission report in hand. "Sir Integra wishes to inform you that you have the night off and have been given special permission to travel to London."

"What? Why? Is there a mission in London?" She was perplexed.

Walter's smile turned pitying. "It's only a few days before Christmas, or have you forgotten?"

In the whirlwind of training and missions she had completely lost the passage of time. It was December 19th, and she had yet to buy anyone a single present.

"Walter, you are a godsend!" she exclaimed and gave him another quick hug. "You're sure it's okay if I leave? There've been so many missions lately… What if something comes up?"

"We've got Seras, Bernadotte, and Alucard on staff. I think we'll be able to manage."

"Well, if you're sure…"

The butler gave her a polite nod of farewell and left the room. Maria danced about giddily for a bit before hurrying to change into civilian clothes. Keeping with her usual dark wardrobe, she changed into her favorite cable-knit wine red sweater dress. The hem just barely covered her behind, and she gave a dark chuckle. She felt like showing a bit of skin after Alucard's conduct earlier. She slid on a pair of black stockings that ended a few inches below the sweater, revealing an alluring slice of her alabaster thighs. She tied her long mane of curls into a messy updo, allowing a few tendrils to frame her face nicely and leaving her neck on prominent display. The vampire was sure to react to that.

Her familiar materialized, weaving between her feet and looking up at its master curiously.

"Did you hear that, Suflețel?" Maria asked it with a grin. "We're having a night on the town."

It gave her an unenthused look and then went to curl up on her bed. Maria stuck her tongue out at it and put on a touch of makeup. She had been gifted with a wonderfully clear, pale complexion, so she only put on a bit of blush and mascara. As she got ready she thought over the gifts she needed to buy for everyone. She usually decided what she would get for each person months in advance, and this year had been no different. The only person she was pondering over was Alucard. They had never exchanged gifts before now, as human holidays meant little to the Nosferatu, but for some reason Maria found herself wanting to break with tradition this year.

"Where do you think you're going in that outfit?"

He had appeared behind her, a rapacious look in his eyes as he took in her svelte figure accentuated by the tight dress.

"I've been given the night off. I'm off to London to do my Christmas shopping," she explained. "Anything you want me to get you?"

"I'll get it myself. I'm going with you."

Maria spun around to gape at him. In the half-second it took her to turn his clothes had changed to a tasteful black suit with a crimson undershirt that matched his eyes and a black tie. He looked positively sinful.

"I thought Sir Integra was going to give you a mission or something."

"My mission is to keep you from harm. Millennium could try to capture you to use as leverage against me."

She slid a leg between his and tugged on his tie to bring his lips to hers. After giving him a feisty kiss, she whispered against his mouth, "And would it work?"

"Hn." He sounded amused as he put his hands on her ass and pulled her even closer before he bit into her neck. Maria let out a soft sound of pleasure and rubbed her heat against his thigh as he suckled at her throat. She could feel him hardening against her and she started to wonder if they could postpone their excursion for just a bit…

With a final lap of his tongue that made her shiver, Alucard pulled away. The smirk he wore was teasing. "Hurry and change. We haven't got all night."

"What do you mean, 'change?' This is what I want to wear." Maria was a bit indignant. She never got a chance to wear this dress even though it was one of her favorites.

"Wear the white one."

Maria had nearly forgotten its existence. She didn't want to cave to his demands, but looking at his fine suit she felt a bit underdressed, even if the sweater was a nice one. So she hurried to undress and change into the white sheath dress she had worn to the Round Table Conference. God bless whatever dry cleaner's it had been sent to, because they had managed to get out every drop of blood on it.

"Is this better?" she asked him.

"Quite," he agreed.

She put on her black pea coat and grabbed her seldom-used purse after checking that her wallet was indeed still inside. Now garbed in his own perfectly tailored black and gray herringbone weave coat that trailed to his mid-thigh, he extended a hand to her. Mirth danced in his eyes as her breath caught in her throat upon seeing him in the modern ensemble. It didn't help that his hair was her favorite length as well. Maria shook herself and took his hand, and in the next moment his shadows had consumed them.

They appeared in the middle of a bustling sidewalk in London. Surprisingly, no one commented on the fact that two people had magically appeared before them. Alucard began walking through the crowd and Maria found it awing how the river of people seemed to naturally part for him, as though on some subconscious level these humans understood that they were before a king. She was still holding on to his arm, but he didn't seem to mind. They chatted in Romanian as they walked towards a large shopping mall in the distance.

"Don't tarry," he ordered her. "We have things to do after this."

"What things?"

He ignored her.

"It shouldn't take long," she assured him. "I know what shops I need to go to."

It was a bitingly cold evening, and the crisp smell of snow to come was in the air. Maria sighed as she looked up to the sky. She could only see a couple stars and the moon, which was a beautiful crescent.

She had spent her entire time getting ready to leave thinking about what she could potentially get Alucard. What did an immortal king need? He could magic any clothes he wanted into existence. He had no need for delicacies. He wasn't one to cherish trinkets. Finally, an idea had struck her as she was putting on her mascara, but it wouldn't be very easy to get. Especially when he was with her.

"Do you think I can enthrall people?" she asked suddenly.

He gave her a sideways glance. "Why don't you try and see?"

"Well, I don't think it's right to try on any of the men and they're the only people I interact with."

"We are surrounded by a sea of nobodies," he said with exasperation.

Maria hesitated as she looked around at the crowd of strangers on the sidewalk. She had no qualms about using mind control on a mortal when it was imperative, like if it were for a mission, but taking over a person's mind simply to see if she could seemed morally reprehensible. Alucard rolled his eyes beside her.

There wasn't anything wrong with it if it were a harmless command, she realized. She stopped walking and tapped on the shoulder of an elderly woman who was hobbling along beside them. The woman turned to Maria, and when they made eye contact she sent her shadows to creep up the woman's body and into her ear, where it traveled to her mind.

 _Kiss my hand,_ she whispered in the grandmother's head.

Her watery brown eyes took on a hazy, dreamy glaze and she wordlessly took Maria's hand and pressed a kiss to the back of her palm.

 _Now return to what you were doing._

Maria retracted her shadows and she and Alucard continued walking. Just like that, the woman shook her head as if from a daydream and went back to tottering along.

"That was much easier than I thought it would be," she commented to the vampire.

"The more natural the command is to the person, the more likely they are to comply."

"Hmm." Maria frowned. She decided it was time to make her intentions clear to him, if only slightly. "I'm going to preface this by asking that you please not read my mind or make me go into detail, but I can buy all of my gifts but one here. I'll have to... _acquire_ the last one though some unsavory means."

His eyebrow perked in intrigue. "Oh? And what means would those be?"

"Well, I was thinking a bit of invisibility, phasing, and mind control, but now that I know it might be too difficult I think I'll just rely on the former two."

He pondered her words for a moment and then said, "Very well. I find it amusing that you're willing to steal something but reluctant to trick an old woman into kissing your hand."

She gave him a scowl as they strode into the mall. "'Steal' has such a bad connotation. Can't you use 'procure' or something? Besides, a little bit of a caper isn't the same as violating a person's mind."

"Caviling," he scoffed and watched boredly as she selected a watch from a glass display case. An employee behind the counter brought it out for her and she inspected it for a few moments before nodding and purchasing it.

"Seras' broke when she was on a mission a while back and she hasn't gotten a chance to get a new one," she explained as they left the shop.

Alucard said nothing but offered a crooked elbow to her. Smiling, she looped her arm around his and they headed to the next store, where she bought a fine fountain pen for Sir Integra. Next, she led him to a jeweler's and chose a golden chain for Walter's monocle, and finally they went to a fine imports shop and she found a nice bottle of American bourbon for Bernadotte.

"Okay, almost finished," she grinned. She showed him their next destination on her phone. "Would you be so kind as to take us here?"

"And whose present will you be purchasing there?" he teased as he saw the name of the shop.

Her smile turned dark. "We're going to do a bit of purchasing together."

He chuckled as they vanished and reappeared a few paces away from the shop with garish neon signs all over it. Though still in downtown London, it was on the outskirts of it and slightly seedier. She and Alucard looked distinctly out of place in their fine clothes. Grinning, the two of them stepped into the adult store and began perusing the wares. It was her first time in this sort of place, so she took her time looking around at everything they had to offer in their many cramped rows of merchandise. Alucard had separated from her to look at the toys, which was just as well because her main interest was the lingerie.

She was holding up a black and red lace ensemble to herself in the mirror when Alucard suddenly loomed behind her.

"Your breasts aren't that big," he said plainly.

It had been a while since she had been so tempted to shoot him. "It's not for me," she ground out. "It's for Seras."

The Nosferatu didn't bat an eye at her displeasure. "Then get light blue for her. Red is my color."

Surprised both at his suggestion and at the bold statement that he owned the rights to one of the primary colors, she took a periwinkle number from the rack. She thought that it would suit Seras' curves nicely and that the mercenary would certainly appreciate it. After a bit of debate she grabbed a similarly skimpy scarlet one and brought the two to the counter. Getting a distinctly bad feeling from his smile as the employee handed him a black bag, Maria narrowed her eyes. What had he bought? And had he actually paid for it or just mind controlled the man into giving it to him? Did Alucard even have a wallet?

"What'd you get?" she asked as she placed her two items on the counter.

"You'll see," he promised with a sinful, fanged grin.

The room suddenly felt warm and Maria rushed to finish paying to get out of the store.

"Your next destination?" he prompted as they returned to the frigid street.

"The British Museum, please."

They were on the steps of the museum in a heartbeat, and they had been divested of their shopping bags en route, which was a relief to Maria. She hadn't wanted to keep hauling them around all night.

"Okay, can you just wait here? And please don't look at what I'm doing," she requested.

He merely crossed his arms and leaned back against a marble pillar, looking impatient. "Don't dawdle."

Her shadows wrapped around her body, enshrouding her in darkness and hiding her from human sight. Already seeing through the walls and into one of the farthest exhibition rooms, she could see the target. She phased through the ground and reappeared in the hall before the glass case that housed her prize. She took out a handkerchief from her bag and unfolded it before she shattered the glass with a powerful flick of her finger. Immediately sirens began to sound, but she wrapped the medium-sized object up in the cloth and reappeared back on the steps beside Alucard in less than two seconds.

He gave her a searching look, but didn't comment. Maria just smiled and took his arm again. "And with this, my Christmas shopping is concluded. Where to, my King?"

"It's too fine a night to waste at home," he said, and then he was whisking her away once more.

They appeared before a large, white, circular building, and Maria realized that it was none other than the Globe Theatre. She shot Alucard a curious look, but he was staring straight ahead as he led her into the hall.

"Ah, Mr. Stoker," the man behind the ticket counter greeted with a warm smile. Maria couldn't help but give the vampire an incredulous look at the moniker. He handed Alucard a pair of tickets. "Please enjoy the show."

Alucard took the tickets and gave him a nod of thanks before they dropped their coats off at the coat check. With a gloved hand on the small of her back he lead Maria into the theater and before the stage in the standing section. The show would be starting soon and there was already a large crowd of people on the floor, but they parted for the No Life King without realizing.

"The Tempest," Alucard said to her as they came to a stop front and center before the stage, "is particularly fitting for us."

As the stage curtains drew and the show began, Maria found herself wondering if he had planned this. Were they on a date? She felt a giddy fluttering in her chest as the broad hand on the small of her back moved to her hip where it possessively tugged her closer to him in the crowd.

Maria had never seen or read _The Tempest_ before, but she was immediately swept up in the story. The parallels between it and their lives were truly remarkable, and she was nearly moved to tears at several points. Alucard watched the entire play with an utterly stoic expression, but she knew him well enough to recognize the sparks of interest firing in his crimson eyes.

When the play ended and the people around them began filing out, they stayed put briefly.

"Knowing your disdain for film, I didn't imagine you'd care for theater," she commented.

"Anything from the late 1700's onward is pure drivel," he said. "I've always enjoyed Shakespeare."

She couldn't keep the smile off her face as they headed back into the lobby and retrieved their coats from the coat check. "Did you ever see one of his plays when he was around?"

"No. I was too busy killing the Turks."

"Right. Silly me," she chuckled.

When they stepped outside she was pleasantly surprised to see it was heavily snowing. Massive snowflakes drifted down without a care in the world, and Maria gave a little sigh as she watched them cascade.

"I can't decide," Alucard said beside her, "whether white or red suits you best."

She turned her gaze to him and saw that he was staring at her with unbridled desire, as though he were a man dying of thirst and she were an oasis.

It didn't matter that they were in the middle of a very busy public street. Maria stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss containing all of the gratitude and need she felt for him. He didn't seem to mind her lack of discretion, as he immediately lost a hand in her hair and deepened the kiss.

As they embraced on the street with the snow falling upon them, it was easy to forget the extraordinary quality of their existence. For that small moment, they were just two people enjoying a night out. There were no freaks to be killed, no crazed Nazis on the march, and no looming fear of the future.

Alucard broke the kiss and brushed aside her curls to gain access to her throat, which she automatically bared for him even though she wasn't sure they were in the best place for such activities. He had just opened his mouth, the tips of his fangs pricking at her skin, when her phone buzzed in her purse.

When she went to answer it, Alucard pulled her hand out of her bag with an irritated growl.

"I've got to answer it. It's either Walter or Sir Integra," she apologized.

He released her arm, looking surly.

With his reluctant permission, Maria answered the call and was greeted by Walter. It seemed that Seras and Bernadotte were already on missions of their own when another vampire had been sighted near Ipswich.

"Sorry to cut into your rare night out," he apologized.

"Oh, not at all," Maria said easily. "You can't really call it a date if there's not at least one slaughter."

Walter chuckled and wished the two of them a pleasant evening.

"A date?" Alucard repeated, sounding amused.

Maria put the phone back in her bag and looped her arm around his. Not a moment later they had vanished to Ipswich and though her clothes hadn't changed, she was now sporting her greatsword on her back. They could both sense the ghouls and their host not too far away and began strolling in their direction unhurriedly.

"What else do you call this?" she asked him with a smile. "You've taken me to a movie of sorts, and now you're treating me to dinner."

He pulled the Jackal out of his breast pocket. "I don't 'treat' anyone," he said testily.

"Oh, you know what I mean," Maria smiled. "You _do_ indulge me from time to time."

Ghouls were trickling out of a mansion down the road and toward them, but Alucard took aim and blasted them into dust in a moment. "And what do you do in return?"

The brunette phased into the mansion's foyer and immediately began twirling through the room, leaving nothing but blood and dismemberment in her wake. _I think I do a little,_ she said to him through their mental connection. _I let you drink all of my blood that you want._

 _That's my right as your sire._

 _I also provide you with amusement._

 _And irritation in tenfold,_ he added as he appeared in the room and started shooting.

Maria scowled as she beheaded a ghoul and then kicked another in the chest before ramming the blade through its skull. _Well, there is one other thing I offer you._

 _And what would that be?_

She crossed the room to him and seized his lips in a fiery, indignant kiss. He continued firing at the encroaching ghouls without missing a beat, and when the blade in her hand changed to her opal inlay pistol she pointed behind her and began shooting, her third eye making it unnecessary to turn around and aim.

She could feel Alucard's grin widen as he pulled her closer with his free hand. Her dress that had started out so immaculate was now covered in red splotches, but he didn't mind. On the contrary, it seemed to excite him.

The two seemed to have the same idea in mind, because at the exact same time both of their familiars appeared and began tearing into the ghouls, allowing Alucard and Maria to focus on each other.

 _There's still the vampire to kill,_ Alucard said absently.

Maria was wholly unconcerned. _He'll come to us, if the dog and cat don't find him first._

Alucard's gun was gone and he grabbed her roughly by the hips to grind his firmness against her. She laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Tell me," she whispered against the nape of his neck, dragging her tongue and fangs across his flesh longingly, "does red or white suit me best?"

As she sank her fangs into him he groaned, "Certainly not white."

Their familiars had both bounded off to root out the rest of the ghouls, leaving them alone in the carnage. He picked her up and set her down on an end table beside them, which allowed her to wrap her legs around his hips so their attraction met in the most delicious way. His shadows were slithering up her body and to the buttons on her dress to undo them. When the dress fell open to reveal a set of lacy black lingerie he gave a hiss of delight.

"But black is becoming on you as well," he murmured, cupping one of her full breasts.

Both of them could sense the vampire approaching but didn't bother to stop what they were doing. The moment the vampire opened the door Maria had her gun trained on him and fired. The bullet hit squarely between his eyes and he crumbled into dust before he even had a chance to scream.

The two of them shared a dark laugh and kissed with renewed vigor. It was only a quarter to midnight—the night was still so young.

* * *

"Maria, explain to me how a heist at the British Museum's Eastern European exhibit just happens to coincide with your night out."

It was the night after their excursion and Sir Integra was leveling the teen with her best threatening glare, and Maria was certainly sweating on the inside.

"It is odd," she conceded. "But I had nothing to do with it."

"Maria," the blonde ground out.

Though she didn't want to admit to her that she had indeed committed a crime when Sir Integra had been kind enough to give her a night off work during their busiest time, she couldn't stand the thought of lying to her.

"Okay, I did take it," she confessed. She then followed the admission quickly with, "But I didn't take it for its value. It's a present."

"What is it?"

"I can't tell you that. He might read your mind and find out."

The Hellsing heiress rolled her eyes and took a long drag from her cigar. "I can't imagine how difficult it must be to find something suitable for him, but theft is unacceptable. I'm going to make a donation to the museum and it will come directly out of your pay."

Maria nodded, head hung. "Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry."

"That will be all." Integra was nothing but business as she sent Maria on her way.

The curly-haired girl closed the door behind her and gave a soft sigh of relief. She had gotten off with a mere slap on the wrist, really. Her pay meant nothing to her, as the only time she used it was to buy gifts for others and the occasional article of clothing here and there. Over her last ten years of employ with Hellsing she had saved enough money to live in relative comfort for quite a few years.

"You caved so easily," Alucard teased, appearing beside her as she walked down the hallway. "It's pathetic."

"She's my boss and benefactor. I can't abuse her trust like that."

"What was so important that you had to burgle the British Museum?"

"I'm not telling you. Let me have just one tiny secret for a few more days."

He gave her a long look but relented. Maria was next headed to the training grounds and she was a bit surprised that he was following her all the way there.

"It's rare for you to take interest in the men," she commented.

"The war is set to begin any day now. I want to see how likely they are to defend the manor and my coffin."

Maria nodded. Of course that would be the extent of his concerns. They were still quite a ways away from the shooting range, yet they could already hear Seras and Bernadotte yelling at each other. Bernadotte was arguing one tactic while Seras was listing out all the reasons she thought said tactic would be ineffective, and they looked ready to attack each other.

Considering the pair had started sharing a bed each day, it was quite surprising how little had changed in their relationship over the past month. The Frenchman's lewdness was unabated, the police girl's virginity was woefully intact. To Maria, who had practically leapt headlong into her relationship with Alucard, it was inconceivable. They both clearly liked each other and were meant to be with each other, so why all the beating around the bush?

I never thought there'd come a time when I understand humans better than you, Alucard chuckled in her mind.

Maria shot him an irritated look before coming to a stop beside the two, placing a hand on each of their shoulders to grab their attention.

"Ma moitie," Bernadotte said, looking relieved, "I'm so glad you're here. Please tell this idiot woman why her idea of attacking a troop of vampires head on is suicide."

"No, explain to him why there's no possible way to sneak up on a troop of vampires and ambush them!" Seras snapped.

Maria willed her knotted brows to smoothen. "First, don't tell me whose side to take. Second, both of your tactics have merits. Pip is used to guerilla warfare, so of course he would suggest the strategy that he has most experience with. Seras is used to the straightforward militaristic operations used by Hellsing and the police. You two need to decide which style you want to go with and then choose which tactics to use. Stop bickering like children and be rational."

Thoroughly chastised, the two had the decency to look abashed for a bit.

"So which strategy do you think is best?" the blonde asked her, calmer than before.

Maria gave it some thought. "To be frank, our men are pretty much screwed with either of your ideas. A single vampire is tough enough for our soldiers to kill, let alone a troop of them with the organization and precision of the Germans. We need to do everything in our power to avoid a head-on conflict.

"With their assault several months ago they were able to gain all of the intel they needed on the Hellsing manor and grounds. We can say with a high amount of certainty that they will attack headquarters, so we should consider this our castle. Now we need the moat."

"You're brilliant," the mercenary said with a grin. "I've got just the idea."

"And if they still manage to get past our defenses and into the manor?" Seras continued.

Maria frowned. "The outlook will be grim. You'll have to focus on breaking them into pairs or individuals against at least four of your men. Let's hope they don't make it that far. If we could devise some traps that could be set up within the building at a moment's notice, perhaps…"

Do you have anything to add? You have more battle experience than any of us by far, Maria asked the vampire, who was still standing near her but surveying the soldiers boredly.

He didn't bother to turn his gaze to her as he replied, You want a strategy in which our numbers are preserved. I have never considered that a high priority.

They didn't call him "Vlad the Cruel" for nothing. Maria shrugged and went back to discussing with Seras and Bernadotte. After a while he seemed to tire of them and vanished, leaving the three of them to further hash over plans late into the night.

Even after they had adjourned their training and promised to pick back up on the discussion the next night, Maria's head was whirring. While she had received extensive tactical training during her time in Hellsing, it had been for dealing with lone vampires and hordes of sluggish, vegetative ghouls. She needed more knowledge on proper military strategy if she were to be of any use to them. In the South Wing library she found several dusty books ranging from medieval warfare to modern tactics and she carried them back to her room where she readied her recently untouched notebook and pen. She continued reading them until after the sun had risen, and the only thing that stopped her was Alucard's baleful glare from her bed.

Maria reluctantly got under the blanket with him, her fingers itching to turn another page in the book. It felt like her brain was switched to light speed and she couldn't slow it down.

Her disquiet must have been leaking through their mental connection, because after a few moments the No Life King let out an aggravated huff and demanded, "Why are you so apprehensive all of a sudden?"

She couldn't explain because she wasn't entirely sure. But there were wings carried on an ill wind fluttering about in her stomach, whispering that the war wasn't going to unfold as she had hoped.

"I think...I think it's going to go poorly," she said slowly.

"You think we will fall?"

Maria shook her head, though her voice lacked the certainty she usually possessed. "That's unlikely as long as you are fighting. But...I have a feeling that our victory is going to come at an extremely high cost."

"Any victory is still a victory," he said unconcernedly, but his words turned a bit sharper. "Now rest. I can't sleep when your thoughts are so incessant."

She nodded and did her best to focus on the broad hand on her hip and the warmth of her familiar draped over her neck. Gradually, her thoughts trickled to a halt but she couldn't entirely erase the sensation of spiders crawling up, up, up inside her, as though fleeing from a flood.

* * *

A/N: I'm particularly interested to see if everyone thinks Alucard is in character this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it. No romance story is complete without a date night, after all.

And with this we are officially half-way through the story. What are you feelings on it so far? I'd love to hear your feedback. Also, please check out my original story on fictionpress. There's a link to it in my profile. Thanks for reading!


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N:** Hello, and welcome to the next installment, the Christmas chapter.

* * *

Seras was honestly in a state of disbelief. Ever since their return from Brazil, her nights had alternated between paradise and purgatory. She had never felt as happy as when she returned from a mission to find Bernadotte already curled up in her bed or when he greeted her each morning with his customary kiss. But she had also never been as anxious either, what with the increase of missions and the threat of Millennium.

She cared about all of the men as if they were her own family, and the loss of even one was monumental to her. It was dreadfully clear that they would suffer heavy casualties, and as she watched the mercenary sleeping beside her she couldn't help but notice all of his frailties.

Seras wasn't like Maria and her master. Try as she might, she couldn't bring herself to enjoy the carnage. Where they saw sport she saw only duty. Every time she looked at a ghoul for too long she found herself imagining who they had been. Did they have a family or children that would miss them?

Her master never batted an eye when one of the Hellsing soldiers fell. He hadn't reacted at all when he learned that they had lost nearly every single one of their men during the assault by the Valentine Brothers. Maria, who hadn't seemed particularly upset, had still sustained sunburns to ensure that they were all cremated and had led Seras in helping put them to rest before they could become ghouls. The draculina had the suspicion that she had helped as much as she did because she was concerned for Seras more than anything else.

But Seras had cried for weeks. Unable to sleep because their memories kept parading through her mind day and night, she had been plagued by a thousand what-ifs. It wasn't until the Wild Geese and their mad captain had appeared that her mind was finally distracted from the guilt.

Bernadotte with his incessant lewdness and outright disdain for order and decorum set her on fire. There were times that she truly wanted to tear him apart with her bare hands, and there were still others, like when he surprised her with a mug of hot chocolate from the kitchens or when he gave her a sweet kiss on her forehead, that she wanted to wrap her arms around him and never let him go.

How strange it was that Seras had never felt more alive than when she was dead.

The man in question currently had his face buried in her chest, his arms and legs wrapped around her. She had had no choice but to get over her shyness at his proximity, as they woke up in a new tangle each and every night. Her t-shirt provided a modicum of separation, and she made due with that. She ran her fingers through his long hair which he had unbraided before sleeping. He burrowed in closer to her at her touch and she couldn't help the small smile that danced across her lips. For being such a tough, battle-worn mercenary he was certainly cuddly.

When he was outside of her room he was the lecherous but charismatic captain that the men all knew and loved. He had his men's best interests always at heart, but wasn't afraid to make the difficult decisions that battle necessitated.

But when he was here, in her bed and her arms, he was so soft and warm that sometimes Seras wondered if he didn't have a doppelganger. This Bernadotte was so kind and so very breakable. What would happen if one of the enemy vampires got a hold of him?

The very thought made her sick with fright.

A very small, dark part of her that had taken root deep within when Alucard had turned her whispered cruelly that it was only a matter of time before she lost the mercenary. Whether it be to wounds or old age, time would surely carry him away from her on its waves.

 _Master?_ she called tentatively. She had no qualms about sending Maria messages, but she was nowhere near as frightening when irritated.

 _Yes?_ he replied, sounding bored.

 _Is there…_ Seras hesitated. She should have thought about exactly what she wanted to ask before starting a conversation with him. _Is it okay for me to be with Bernadotte?_

Alucard chuckled. _I may be your master but who you lie with is not of my concern._

 _What I mean is…he'll never become a vampire, right?_

He paused for a moment and then answered, _I think it is highly unlikely that he will become one, but Maria thinks otherwise._

Unbidden, a flicker of hope sparked in Seras' chest and helped to chase away the cloud of doubt that had been filling her up. _And you trust her opinion?_

 _In some matters._

 _And in this one?_

A tinge of irritation colored his next words. _I am undecided. I can't tell whether her convictions lie in the foolhardiness of youth or something more certain. Speak with her about it._

Without a farewell he severed their connection, leaving Seras to ruminate on his words. So Maria thought that Pip could become a vampire, but her master didn't. The vampiress was tempted to side with her master, if only because he was the No Life King and nobody knew more than he did when it came to vampires. But Maria wasn't one for whimsy—she wouldn't entertain a notion like that unless she felt it was a strong possibility.

It was a terribly, horribly selfish desire to want this good man to sacrifice his humanity to walk the night eternally with her. It was reprehensible and she hated herself for thinking it, but that still didn't stop her from wishing for it with all her still heart. Seras wanted him to be just as strong and invulnerable as her master. She was oh so tired of seeing everyone around her die.

"Why are you sighing so early in the morning?" Pip groaned, not bothering to lift his face from her chest quite yet.

"It's six p.m.," she corrected, and then lied, "I'm just thinking about all the stuff I've got to do."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's Christmas. We don't have anything to do unless a mission comes up."

Seras sighed again. She had never been good at lying. When she didn't fess up what was on her mind, Bernadotte looked up at her probingly. She just closed her eyes and ignored him.

"Is it vampire stuff?" he guessed. "You went to the blood bank and they were out of your favorite type?"

Her worried frown changed to one of mild irritation. "I don't drink blood, you oaf."

He flashed her a cheeky smile. "You went to buy some bats but all they had at the pet shop were pathetic fruit bats?"

"I'll drink your blood if you don't stop," she threatened.

"I wish you would," he said with a chuckle. "I bet it'd feel good. Maria says it's nice."

"Since when do you and Maria discuss that sort of thing?"

"Since I asked her a few weeks ago. Wanted to know what I'm getting myself into with you."

Seras shook her head. "It doesn't matter what it's like for her because I'm not going to drink your blood."

"Why not? I wouldn't mind, so long as you don't drain me."

The blonde scooted away from him and his tempting warmth and words, but he kept his arms around her waist tightly so she was only able to put a couple inches between them.

"Don't tempt me like that," she said in a whisper.

Pip gave her a soft kiss aimed to wipe the fear off her face. He breathed against her lips, "Ma cherie, I would never wish for you to do something that would compromise your integrity. Well, in some ways I wouldn't mind, but you know what I mean. You could be stronger and more complete if you just drank a bit."

She wondered why he was pushing so hard for this. He knew why she didn't want to drink, how she didn't want to forfeit the final scrap of her humanity just yet, and yet he still urged her on. These past couple weeks he had brought it up in one way or another almost every morning when they went to bed. Seras had realized that they only way to make him drop the subject was to distract him.

So she kissed him, long and deep. He immediately pulled her to him so he could feel her curves against him fully. One would think that with the way they always woke up tangled around each other that they had by now discovered each and every facet of the other's body, but their hands roved each other as covetously and adventurously as if it were their first time. The trail of warmth his hands left sent shivers down her spine, as did her cold touch when she ran a hand down his chest and lower to boldly brush against his burgeoning need. A light blush dusted her cheeks at the direct contact, but she forgot all about her childish sensibilities when his soft groan reached her ears and awakened a new thirst within her.

"Seras," he murmured and rolled his hips into her hand.

Those devilishly hot hands of his slid up her shirt and to her breasts. The first time he had purposefully copped a feel she had turned red as a tomato and swatted him away, nearly breaking his hands in the process. They were long past that point, though. Slowly but surely, Seras thought as her back arched into his touch and he pinched her nipples playfully, he was changing her into a woman. The things she had railed against so vehemently all her life—relationships, dependency, love—Pip made so tantalizingly tangible that her still heart felt constricted at times.

She wanted this, she realized. She wanted him and everything he could offer her. He wasn't wholesome but he was a wholly good man whom she could trust with anything. He wouldn't ever hurt her or throw her away, no matter the circumstances. Every fiber of her being told her this.

Seras broke their heated kiss to pull off her shirt and toss it to the floor, and Pip gave her a wide-eyed look of delighted surprise before laying his lips on hers with renewed vigor. When her cool fingers dipped beneath the elastic band of his boxers he gave a soft gasp.

"We don't have to," he told her softly. "If you're not ready…"

But she shook her head as a nervous yet set smile grew on her lips. There was a certainty in her blue eyes that he had never seen in them before. "No, it's okay. I want to. I want it to be you."

Pip gave her a crooked grin so lovely her heart could burst and he put a broad and calloused hand on her cheek as he whispered, "I've been waiting to hear those words for a long time now."

* * *

Maria woke early, a couple hours before the sun set. It was Christmas and her chambers felt even chillier than usual. It didn't help that her bedfellow tended to drain all of her body heat. Nestled against Alucard's side with one hand on his bare chest, she turned her gaze to his sleeping figure.

It was incredibly rare for her to catch a glimpse of him asleep, as he was usually the one to rouse her and seldom drifted off before did. Though she could never say that the No-Life King ever let his defenses down, this was surely the closest he came. He was a marble statue beside her, still and eternally beautiful. Maria understood from books and movies that most people's sleeping faces could be described as "angelic" or "serene," but the same did not hold true for him. Alucard's expression was the same carefully blank one he often wore when awake. He was guarded even when resting.

Maria's eyes drifted down to her hand splayed across his sternum. Her nocturnal lifestyle had resulted in a rather pale complexion, but since receiving such large quantities of his blood her skin had taken on a pallor akin to ivory. She was only a few shades darker than the vampire himself now.

He didn't bother to open his eyes as he drawled, "Two more hours to nightfall and already your mind is racing."

"Sorry," she whispered. "It's just that it's Christmas."

"That's only part of it."

Sometimes she really disliked the mental link they shared. While she always respected his privacy and never pried (though she knew he erected walls that would prevent her from succeeding if she ever were to try), he abused it. Perusing each and every one of her musings was his pastime, no matter how many times she let her disdain be known.

He sensed her irritation, because he opened one eye and slid her an impish look.

An irked huff escaped her lips and she scowled up at him for a moment. She hadn't really wanted to ask her question, but he would force her to now. "You sleep with me each day to protect me, and because you like how warm I am," she stated. When his brow furrowed in ire, she knew she had hit the mark and fought back the quirk of a smile that threatened to form on her lips. "But once I truly become a vampire—a powerful one—will the novelty wear off?"

Alucard fixed her with a long, unreadable stare. He rolled over to face her, his hand on her hip pulling her closer so his semi-hard length could press against her deliciously.

His small smile was playful as he asked, "Do you think I am that fickle a creature?"

"In some matters, yes," Maria answered, refusing to be distracted by this ploy he tended to use whenever she brought up something he wanted to avoid.

"Perhaps it is my novelty that will wear off for you," he countered. His deep crimson eyes never left hers as his tongue darted temptingly along her jugular.

"Unlikely. You are my King—I'll stay by your side for all of time. But you can make a new queen whenever the fancy strikes you."

"We have already discussed this," Alucard said evenly, though there was a stony undercurrent in his words. "I have chosen you. Your warmth and your pure blood are without doubt an added boon, but it isn't this body that I seek. It is the vibrancy of your very being that I desire."

Maria's breath was caught in her throat. She had been expecting an order to desist or another distraction, not a direct answer.

"While your body is certainly captivating," he continued as his hands roved her flesh as if to prove his point, "in a couple centuries you will come to see that a human's body is nothing more than thin paper. Cheaply made, easily torn, and difficult to distinguish from another. It is the soul, that inextinguishable flame that lights it from within, that I see when I look upon a human.

"And yours, my dear—" He gave her a delighted yet dark grin as he traced her lips with a gloved thumb. "—yours burns with the fervor of the sun and moon and all the comets in the sky. It would take a hundred lifetimes to count the stars, just as it would to count your complexities. I will not tire of you until I have solved each of your enigmas and plotted them on a map of the sky."

Nearly overcome by this unprecedented show of affection, it was all Maria could do to kiss him with every ounce of the passion and gratitude she felt. He chuckled into the kiss and returned it easily.

"Now," he said after pulling away, looking expectant, "it is Christmas. Where is my gift?"

"What gift?" Maria played coy knowing full well it wouldn't work for even a second.

"The gift you pilfered from the British Museum."

"I told you, ' _requisitioned.'_ "

He looked distinctly unamused. Maria gave a chortle and got out of bed to fetch the gift, which she had since wrapped in a fine black silk cloth in lieu of wrapping paper. When she returned to bed he was waiting impatiently.

"I'm not sure whether you'll like it," she said as she got under the blankets once more, "but since you've given me so much this year, I wanted to give you something."

He took the small parcel from her hand, his head propped against the headboard so that he was halfway sitting up. Maria lost no time in nesting into her patent position at his side and watched anxiously while he untied the knot and the cloth slid off the gift to land on the bedspread.

Alucard ran his gloved fingers over the incredibly worn leather cover of the book and opened it. His eyes widened as they fell upon the old Cyrillic on vellum. The ink was faded in places and there were parts of the book missing due to the ravages of time, but it was still largely intact and legible.

"It's a collection of Wallachian folktales from the late 15th century," she explained, her nervousness mounting as he simply continued to stare at the book with a flat expression. "I recognized a few of the stories you've told me and realized they were in this book. I thought maybe it would amuse you."

He still said nothing as he flipped through the pages. His face gave nothing away, and Maria began to wonder if it had been a poor gift. Perhaps this dredged up unpleasant memories?

When he finally spoke he sounded distant, as though his mind were somewhere else entirely. "When I was a boy, before my brother and I were taken prisoner by the Turks, I had a book very similar to this one."

Maria stayed silent, though she was rapt.

"Reading was my earliest method of catharsis," he continued, "before I learned how much more comforting it is to see your enemies skewered on pikes."

She couldn't help but grin, relieved that he had found the present pleasing. She read along silently with him, and once they had reached the end the book faded from his hands and presumably to the place he kept all his other belongings.

"I have no gift to give you," he stated presently.

"That's fine," Maria said as she crawled on top of him. "Your tongue will do."

She felt cool hands on her back crush her to him as he laughed.

In Maria's entire life, she had not once witnessed Alucard utter a sincere word of thanks. She had never expected to receive gratitude for the gift, at least not in the verbal form. He showed his gratefulness with his hands, tongue, and teeth. Though he was occasionally a selfish lover, tonight he took especial care to give her the utmost pleasure until her body could take no more and she collapsed in a sweaty, shivering heap upon the sheets. It was all she could do to limply return his warm kiss as she fought to catch her breath.

"Keep this up and you might kill me," she panted.

"Not the worst way to go."

Maria gave a breathy laugh into his long hair. "Awkward to explain to friends and family though."

Alucard was quiet as he listened to her frantic heart slowly but surely calm.

"What are Seras and Pip up to?" she asked.

He gave her a long look, as though debating holding out on her. He finally said, "It looks like the two of them are about to give each other the present of a lifetime."

Maria shot up in bed, emerald eyes wide in alarm. "Shit!" she exclaimed, and in less than a second had thrown on a nightgown and phased from the room.

She reappeared a moment later outside Seras' room and raised her hand to knock, but then realized she had forgotten their presents. She blipped back to her chambers to fetch the two brightly wrapped gifts and then to the door in the time it took to blink and was then hammering on the door.

Silence.

Maria chewed on her lip, wondering if perhaps she had been too late.

"Oui?" Bernadotte opened the door a crack, and she didn't have to be able to see through walls to know that he was wearing nothing.

"Merry Christmas!" she cheered, waving the gifts about. "Let's open these presents!"

"Uh...can we do that later?" It was the first time she had ever seen him looking embarrassed about anything.

"Nope," she said stoutly, and pushed on the door. He shoved back against her, looking alarmed.

"Listen," he hissed, "this is a bad time."

Maria played stupid, putting on an innocent expression. "It's never a bad time for a present, and Alucard wants me back soon so I don't want to keep him waiting. He's not exactly known for his patience. Now open the door."

The mercenary let out an irate but defeated huff and then shut the door for a moment. Maria smirked triumphantly as she heard the rustle of clothes being thrown on and then Seras opened the door, a heavy dusting of pink on her cheeks.

"I didn't expect to see you here so early," she said as Maria walked in. "The sun's only just set."

"I've been up for a couple hours already. Christmas spirit, I guess. Speaking of which, here." She handed their presents to each of them and watched as they opened them. Both were pleased and thanked her before giving her a present of their own. From Seras she got a lovely notebook and pen, and from Pip she got a fine gun cleaning kit. Both thoughtful and practical.

They chatted for a bit before Maria feigned that Alucard was calling her and she returned to her chambers, where Alucard lie lazily in bed. Though she yearned to join him, she got into the shower instead.

 _I thought all your espionage over the past couple months was meant to culminate with the Police Girl losing her virginity,_ Alucard said in her mind, sounding bemused.

 _Yes, it is. But I'm too good at my job. They've got to wait._

 _For what?_

' _For what?' indeed,_ she agreed. _I'm not quite sure, but it's not time yet._

 _I didn't know I'd be getting both a queen and a soothsayer._

Maria laughed as she rinsed the shampoo from her hair. _Oh, please. It's nothing like that. Surely you realize the same things I do._

 _No._

Her hands stilled in her curls. She had simply taken these truths as self-evident. Just as the sky was blue and the sun would rise in the east, these things would come to pass. She had always just assumed that Alucard knew all she did and even more.

 _So...am I crazy?_ she asked.

 _You must be to agree to follow me,_ he said with some mirth. _There is little doubt that you can peer into souls passively. Whether you can divine an individual's past and future remains dubious, though you have hit the mark on several unlikely occasions._

Maria shook her head in disbelief. _Do all vampires have a specialty? Something they can do better than most others?_

 _True vampires, yes._

 _So...this could be mine?_

 _Perhaps, though this is the first time I've seen such a skill manifest._

 _What's yours?_

Alucard gave a proud _hn_ and said enigmatically, _Perhaps you will see in the upcoming war._

Knowing that he wouldn't give her a better answer than that, she changed the subject as she turned off the water and wrapped a towel around herself. _I don't want to bother you too much with it, but I'd really appreciate it if you could run interference with me for awhile._

 _Fine, but only if I'm allowed to do it in any way I choose._

Maria bit her lip. This was a risky gamble if ever there were one, but she knew that she would need his help.

"Nothing too…" At the sight of his nefarious grin she sighed and admitted defeat. There was never any stopping him when he had that gleam in his eyes. "Oh, fine. But we're just cockblocking. Nothing drastic."

"Nothing drastic," he nodded, though his grin had only widened.

Maria clapped her hand to her forehead. His idea of "drastic" was wildly different from hers. "Just please don't undo all of my hard work," she begged.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

She threw on an old pair of jeans and a ratty sweater. Alucard watched her with vague interest as she pulled her long hair into a high ponytail. Somehow she knew what he wanted and lay down beside him before offering him her neck.

"I have you trained so well," he praised before sinking his teeth in and drinking.

"Don't say it like I'm some pet," she huffed.

He chuckled and continued to feed for a while longer before he bared his neck in kind.

"Where are you going in those shabby clothes?" he asked as she drank.

 _Annual paintball fight,_ she answered. _Did you forget about it?_

 _Isn't it unfair to the men if you play now?_

 _I won't be using any of my powers. Tonight I'm just run-of-the-mill human Maria. Seras will be playing too._

 _You, run-of-the-mill,_ he scoffed humorously. _A wolf in sheep's clothing is what you are._

 _Shh, you'll spoil my disguise._

When his neck healed over Maria pulled away and gave him a light, playful kiss. She knew that he liked the taste of his own blood in her mouth.

She left him in her bed and headed back to Seras' room, where both she and Bernadotte were waiting in plain clothes. The three of them chatted as they made their way up and outside to the training grounds. The special maze they used for the live ghoul exercises would be used for the paintball gun competition. It was a bit of a Hellsing Christmas tradition. Sir Integra, who didn't believe that the holidays were an excuse to slack on training, had been persuaded some years ago by a former captain that if they were going to train on Christmas Day it might as well be a bit light-hearted. Hence the no-holds-barred paintball contest, easily the most entertaining night of the year. Sir Integra and Walter were standing on the ridge that overlooked the ceilingless maze, waiting as the Wild Geese all congregated before them. On a long table was a large stack of semi-automatic rifles.

"Men," Sir Integra greeted in her usual brusque fashion, "Happy Christmas. For the vast majority of you, this is your first Hellsing paintball training session. And for those of you who are familiar with it, there have been some important changes so pay attention. In prior years, it was a free-for-all with the winner being the last man standing. In light of the present situation, however, I have decided that it will be all of the Wild Geese versus Seras and Maria."

The two women shot each other surprised looks.

Integra grinned. "Battle is looming over us, and you all need practice going up against real vampires. Though Seras and Maria can hardly be called such, they will have to suffice." Seras wilted slightly at her words but said nothing. It wasn't entirely wrong. "Seras, Maria, I want you to use the same powers and strength that our enemy possesses. So no phasing, mind reading, or shadow manipulation. Is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," they answered in unison. Seras added, "We are allowed to work together, though, right?"

"Yes. The enemy is well-organized and so should you be."

Maria grinned and cracked her knuckles. This would be fun, even if she would be holding back and couldn't use her greatsword.

Alucard's dark chuckle rippled across her mind. _This should be entertaining. How long will it take you to defeat them all?_

 _Who knows? They might outsmart us._

 _You can both expect punishment if you disgrace me by losing to these humans._

He must have broadcasted that to Seras as well, because she jumped at the sudden threat.

 _We_ are _holding back, though,_ Maria reminded him.

 _Even so, giving them false hope before the battle is the worst thing you could do._

"You'll be given twenty minutes to create a strategy," Integra finished. "Now, begin!"

"Bonne chance," Pip said with a grin to them before dragging his finger across his throat. "We're not gonna go down easily, even if the enemy is two ridiculously good-looking vampires."

"Vampire and a human," Maria corrected sweetly.

"Oh, cut the shit. No one who can play interdimensional tag with a hellhound can be called human, ma moitie. You can do more than any of those enemy vampires can."

"If she couldn't, she wouldn't be worthy of the title of my queen."

Alucard appeared beside his master in his red coat and hat, gaze hidden behind his sunglasses. All of the men suddenly became a bit restless upon his arrival except for Pip, who gave him a friendly tip of the hat. Alucard nodded in return and turned his gaze to Integra, who was commenting on his rare appearance at training.

The men distanced themselves to begin talking strategy, and Maria and Seras left to do the same. Once they had come to a decision, they each took a rifle from the stack and nodded to each other with matching fanged grins.

Smelling the oncoming conflict, Maria's familiar appeared on her shoulder and gave a curious mewl.

"Sorry to disappoint, but it's just training today," she told it as she scratched its neck. "Why don't you see if the hellhound will play with you?"

Suflețel gave her a disdainful look before hopping down and padding toward Alucard. Though the Nosferatu steadfastly ignored its existence it continued to stare up at him expectantly until he relented. With a twitch of his fingers Mr. Eyes appeared.

"Just don't eat it," Alucard ordered his familiar boredly, and in the next moment the two creatures were chasing each other off into the distance, snarling and hissing.

Seras had gone ahead to the entrance to the north, leaving Maria alone next to the gun table as she stowed extra rounds in her ammo belt. She was just finishing her preparations when Bernadotte led his men to the table to get their own weapons. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from them, and she looked up to him in surprise at the rough treatment.

"Look," he said under his breath, his face set in an uncharacteristic scowl, "I know you interrupted us on purpose, and I don't know why you did it, but I'm making it my personal mission to take you out tonight."

Maria couldn't help but giggle, which only made his frown deepen. She patted his cheek sweetly and leaned forward to whisper in his ear, "Try it, bitch."

She pulled away, still wearing her sunny smile. "Do your best, boys! Hopefully you'll have more luck tonight than your captain here."

And with that, she left the long-haired mercenary positively fuming. Maria loved how easy it was to get a rise out of him.

Maria went to stand at the southern entrance and waited for Integra's signal to commence training, her gun at her side and ready. It had become second nature for her shadows to wrap around her body as armor and she had to focus a bit to force them back to the ground. She heavily restricted the amount of power she sent to her third eye, and though she would usually be able to pinpoint each soldier's location by looking through the walls or hearing their heartbeats, she was now left with only a fuzzy, distant inkling of their presence to the east and west. She felt blind.

A whistle sounded and she darted into the training grounds, thankful that she was still able to use her speed at least. She and Seras had surmised that the men would break into two evenly powered groups, and so had decided to handle one band each. Maria took the west, sprinting through the confusing corridors so fast she was nearly a blur. A group of five men were within a room right off this corridor, and with a grin she leapt onto the top of the wall and took aim at the unsuspecting men.

She squeezed off a couple rounds and caught two men square in the chest. The other three spun around and began aiming, but Maria had already alighted and was running at them. She shoved the other three to the ground and then shot them each in the gut.

"Tsk tsk," she said with a teasing smile. "You're my dinner now."

The five could only swear and groan.

The door burst open and a pelt of gunfire was careening toward her. Maria spun and leapt over the wall and into the next room, but hissed angrily when she was met with a band of laughing soldiers that opened fire on her. Instincts told her to phase out of the rain of bullets, but she resisted the urge and instead strafed to the left. She was a mere blur as she lunged at the tightly knit six, and with a triumphant laugh she wrenched a gun out of one of the men's hands and shoved them all back before splattering them all with blue and pink paint from both her guns.

"Not bad," she nodded, tossing the stolen rifle to the ground as the heap of men glowered at her. She looked down to see a splotch of neon blue paint on her shin. "One of you were lucky, but you've got to hit my head or heart for me to lose."

The men who had ambushed her in the previous room were here now, firing with abandon at her. Bernadotte was grinning crazily from the doorway, but he wasn't shooting. He didn't even have his gun pointed at her. It was just then that Maria saw a live grenade that had rolled to a stop at her feet.

"You're fucking jo—" she began in disbelief, and with no other option left to her she grabbed one of the larger men she had already shot and used him as a human shield. The bomb exploded and everyone in the room was coated in hot pink.

"Captain, you just sacrificed your own men!" one of the downed mercenaries shouted accusingly.

"You dumbasses are already dead," he shrugged. "You can't come back as a ghoul if you're in little bits, anyways. Ma moitie, drop Booker so we can turn you into some modern art."

Booker, the man in question, looked to Maria with a smug grin. He thought that she would be getting her comeuppance for taking them all out and using him as a blast guard.

The brunette just gave him a fanged grin and she watched the blood drain from his face. "Suck it, Captain," she said sweetly, and with a mighty jump she soared over the far wall with her gun in one fist and Booker's coat in the other. He yelped as he flew with her and she deposited him on the floor of the empty room before swiftly dashing out the room and into the corridor. A few yards down the men were casting around for her and they yelled when they saw her. They began shooting, but Maria just laughed and darted from side to side to avoid the spray.

"The grenade was dirty," she tutted. "If that's how you want to play, so be it."

Though she couldn't use her shadows to attack the men, as that was something the enemy vampires were incapable of doing, she figured she could at least use them to demoralize them. Afterall, they had no fear of her as it were. She needed to remind them of her title.

As she continued to weave about to dodge the bullets, her shadow grew to encompass the entire hallway and the men stopped firing. They all took a step back to avoid the tendrils of her encroaching shadows, but they swiftly spread to cover every inch of wall and floor, and then reached up to blot out the stars and moon until they were in darkness.

"What the fuck are you doing just standing there, you pussies?" Bernadotte shouted. "Fucking shoot her!"

Maria extended her hands up to the sky as if reaching for the moon, and as she did so part of her shadow broke away from the ground and became a flock of bats. The swarm rocketed toward the men, who screamed and began shooting wildly at them. The brunette just cackled in delight.

But Bernadotte wasn't as easily shaken as the others. While the rest of the soldiers were contending with the swarm of bats that relentlessly swooped down at their faces, the Frenchman let out a frustrated snarl and took aim at Maria. She moved to the left to avoid it but her right arm was clipped in the process.

She raised her gun up to fire at him in retaliation but snarled in rage when the trigger clicked impotently. These guns had much less room for ammo than their real rifles did and she had forgotten that. Casting aside the gun hastily, she changed tactics and ran straight at him full speed. All the captain could do was continue firing and brace for the impact, as he knew that he wouldn't have a chance in Hell of escaping her clutches.

Letting out a victorious "Hah!" Maria grabbed him by his lapels and shoved him to the ground, knocking his rifle out of his hands and landing on his gut in the process.

"You're dead," she whispered.

He just smirked. "Check again, vampire."

She felt cold gunmetal against her sternum and her smile crumpled into a sour frown. Just as he had somehow procured a paintball grenade, he had also gotten a pistol of similar make and had it leveled to her heart.

Admitting defeat, Maria called off her bats and her shadows receded to take the shape of her unassuming silhouette, much to everyone's relief. She growled reluctantly, "Well, go on and shoot me then."

Bernadotte was beaming as he turned to his men. "You heard her, boys. I want this girl covered head to toe in paint."

He shot her straight in the chest and then scooted out from under her so everyone could open fire on her unhindered. She just heaved a sigh on the ground and allowed them to crowd around her chuckling.

"Never thought we'd actually be able to beat you," one of them said.

"Yes, well considering that I encountered sixteen of you in total and killed eleven, that's still not the best of odds," Maria reminded them. The grins on everyone's faces slackened slightly at her words, and while she felt a bit guilty for it she also knew that Alucard was right. It would do no good to bolster morale with false hope. "Now hurry up and get this over with, will you?"

"Fire!" Pip ordered, and all at once they emptied their clips on her. She was well and truly covered in bright blue, green, and pink paint. She had held her arms up to shield her face, but her long curls and clothes were ruined.

The Frenchman clapped her on the shoulder. "No hard feelings, yeah?"

"None whatsoever," she agreed.

"Bonne, bonne," he said, and then patted her cheek with a paint-soaked hand. "I'm glad we're both not the type to hold grudges when things don't go our way."

Her light tone was completely at odds with the fanged snarl she wore. "Uh-huh," she agreed, and then swirled around fast enough that her long pony-tail whipped around and thwacked him in the face. Her hair had been just as covered in neon as the rest of her body, and now the right side of Bernadotte's face was a gaudy mess.

The two of them stared daggers at each other before laughing and they all made the walk out of the maze and back to the top of the hill where Sir Integra, Walter, and Alucard were waiting.

 _How disappointing,_ Alucard said, and she could practically see his frown in her mind's eye. _You barely lasted five minutes._

 _If I hadn't been holding back I could have wiped them out in even less time. If anything, this shows their strength._

 _Hn._ He sounded unconvinced. _The Frenchman did put up a decent fight, even if his men were cowards and simpletons. I wasn't aware you could manifest your shadow into bats._

 _Yeah, it was my first time trying it. It looked terrifying when you did it back in Brazil so I thought I'd take a stab at it. I wanted them to feel some of the fear they'd have when it was an actual enemy vampire coming at them._

"Good work, men," Sir Integra commended once they returned and placed their guns on the table, "Though Maria managed to take out too many of you. You need to be more aware of your surroundings and more focused in general. Everyone but Captain Bernadotte lost their heads when those bats appeared."

"Yes, ma'am," they chorused.

"Now, let's see how well the other half does against Seras."

They all turned their attention to the maze and watched as Seras ambushed room after room of men, but in the end was cornered by the final ten soldiers and shot. Had this been an actual battle with real weapons Hellsing would have won but with severe casualties. Their victory was tainted with the bitter taste of this knowledge and they all headed back to the manor to get washed up and enjoy a midnight Christmas dinner.

While Alucard chose to vanish back to her chambers, Maria walked with Seras, Pip, and the rest of the soldiers. They joked about how Wilkins had nearly pissed himself when Seras had appeared out of nowhere and shot him in the back, and how furious Maria had been when Bernadotte had bested her.

Everyone dug into the extravagant feast except for Seras, whom Maria occasionally caught staring longingly when she thought no one was watching her. The teenager felt a pang of guilt. These days, she cared to eat little more than bread and the occasional apple. Food seemed to have only a ghost of its flavor now and the only thing she truly craved was something no human should have any business desiring.

Maria forced herself to eat the mashed potatoes and gravy on her plate. Since she always took her meals in her chambers, nobody but Seras and Bernadotte knew that she obtained her powers through drinking blood. She didn't want any of the men to learn that facet of her transformation, and it was one of the reasons that she tried to hide her fangs.

She was relieved when servants came out to clear away the leftovers, as this left only the alcohol. The night quickly devolved into one hundred drunk mercenaries, one tipsy vampire, and a decidedly inebriated teenage girl. Maria had indulged in the occasional glass of wine, but Bernadotte, Hayden, and the others had somehow roped her and Seras into a shot competition. The whisky had initially burned her throat like fire and she had coughed and sputtered to everyone's great amusement, but she had quickly grown used to it.

Before she knew it, the sun was rising and she could barely see straight, let alone stand. To her right was Seras, who was hiccupping and leaning against the Frenchman. He had his arm slung around her hip and was laughing loudly at something one of his friends had said.

Seras gave a mouth-splitting yawn. "Sun's up. Time for bed."

"Well, I'd better see you to your room, then," the mercenary said, but Maria took Seras' arm and pulled her to her feet. This was an impressive feat considering how the world was spinning so fast.

"Fraid not," she slurred to Pip, whose easy smile was flickering as his alcohol-addled mind was slowly but surely putting two and two together. "Girls Night."

The blond shot her friend a puzzled look, but an odd glaze fell over her eyes for a moment before she said easily, "Yes. Girls Night."

"But—" Pip began, still holding on to the draculina's arm.

"Sorry. Tits before the bits," Maria managed to say, and then the two of them were tottering out of the hall arm in arm and leaning heavily on each other.

"Chicks before dicks!" Seras called out just as they left the hall and the two of them nearly fell down from laughter.

They shakily made their way to Seras' room and then collapsed on the bed in their casual clothes, giggling. Maria didn't think she could stand again, but the alcohol was making her hot so she sloppily undressed to her bra and underwear before crawling under the blankets. Seras did the same and they were quickly cuddling under the blankets. Seras' cool flesh was a blessing to Maria, who threw an arm around her waist. Seras' head was resting against the brunette's collarbone and her hand on her ribs.

"You're much softer than Pip," she commented dazedly.

Maria smiled. "And you're much clingier than Alucard."

"Why did Master order me to sleep with you?"

"Because I'd be nothing but a nuisance to him in this state, and I think he's forgotten that he has a coffin to sleep in."

"I like sleeping with Pip," Seras admitted. "He always kisses me good morning."

Maria smiled. "I'm glad."

"Master says you think he might become a vampire too."

She frowned. When had Alucard divulged that to her? She hadn't wanted to give Seras false hope in case the war didn't go in their favor and she was wrong. "That's what my gut tells me," she said presently, "but I have no way of knowing."

"I hope you're right," she whispered, and then she was asleep.

Maria gave a heavy sigh and closed her eyes, focusing on the hazy warmth the alcohol had bestowed upon her until sleep took her away as well.

* * *

Maria awoke in her own bed against a body much larger and harder than the draculina's. She opened her eyes slowly to see Alucard staring at her. It felt like her skull was being split in two.

"Did you get angry and squeeze my head or something?" she groaned.

"Tempting as it may be, no."

"Then why am I dying?"

"You drank too much, you foolish girl."

"Ah." Maria curled up into a ball and pressed her feverish forehead to his chest. "I don't suppose you'd be kind enough to cure me?"

She didn't have to open her scrunched eyes to envision his disdain. "Stop being so pathetic."

"Okay," she said, though the only thing she could do was cease her complaints. "How did I get back here? I think I remember going to bed with Seras…"

"You did, but I thought you would object to the Frenchman seeing you curled up naked with the Police Girl, so I brought you back here."

"Thank you. That was very considerate."

"I'd have to kill him if he looked upon my queen in such a state," he clarified.

Maria snorted. Of course he had done it because he was possessive, not because he cared about her modesty.

"My master thinks that you are becoming too powerful," he said suddenly. Though Maria's head was throbbing and she had the distinct feeling that she would have to run to the bathroom at any second she willed herself to look up at him. He was calm, bored even. "We knew that you would become stronger the further the ritual progressed, but you have already exceeded my expectations considerably."

"So...what does that mean?" she asked slowly.

"In light of the approaching war, it is good. But it would be unwise of my master to leave my queen unchecked."

Maria was startled by his implication. "I would never betray Sir Integra or Hellsing!"

"Of course, but if I commanded it you would ultimately be powerless to disobey me. It's a show to the Round Table that Sir Integra cannot be swayed by the vampires she employs."

"I'll have to wear gloves?" she grimaced.

The vampire smirked at her obvious displeasure. "Perhaps, though it won't be done until after the war is won."

She nodded, though she wasn't particularly keen on the idea of being subjugated. A stab of jealousy also shot through her, as there had been no talk of Seras being put under the same restraints.

"You said I've exceeded your expectations. What do you mean by that?"

"No other queen has ever been able to manipulate their powers so well or so quickly. Even by the end of the five years, no one has commanded the same strength as you."

Maria mulled over his words. "What makes me different? The fact that I've been with you since I was a child?"

"Perhaps. Or maybe it's a sign that you are the one true Queen of the Night, just as I am King."

She liked the sound of that. They spoke for a bit more before Maria dozed off again, and when she awoke it was nearly midnight and her hangover had faded. Alucard was off somewhere else, perhaps dispatched on a mission as she couldn't sense his presence in or around the manor. She passed the night away by reading more military tactic books and dutifully taking notes in the new notebook Seras had gotten her.

He didn't reappear until a couple hours past sunrise, which was just as well because Maria wasn't tired and wanted to stay up late. She was nearly finished with a book on World War One Tactical maneuvers when he materialized, grinning widely. That smile never boded well.

"Incepe," was all he said.

Maria set her pen down on the table. "Ce s-a întâmplat?"

He was nothing short of delighted. "They've taken over a Royal Navy battleship and are shooting down any aircraft that approach it. They wait for me."

"You go out there and you'll be stranded in the middle of the ocean," Maria observed. "They want to get you out of the way."

Alucard didn't seem bothered by this. "I've sailed into London before. We'll do it again."

"We?"

"The Police Girl and the Frenchman will defend headquarters. Walter will guard my Master. You will ride into battle beside me."

Maria's hands were trembling. His excitement and bloodlust were bleeding into her mind, making her restless. Finally, the war would begin. A respite from the boredom of eternity had presented itself at last. But coupled with his eagerness was her own undercurrent of anxiety. Unable to shake the feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong, Maria feared what fate would befall the people she held dear. The people she called family and friend.

"Come," he beckoned to her. He was lying on the bed now, nude. "You will need all the power I can give you. Drink."

She obediently closed her books and stripped before getting under the blankets with him. In a moment she had crawled on top of him and sunk her fangs deep into his neck. He pressed her to him as he often did with a gloved hand on the small of her back and her head, and as she lapped up his soothing essence she was overwhelmed by the desire to become his queen this very moment. She was always eager for the ritual to be complete, and even more so when she was drunk on his power, but tonight was different.

 _What happens if you make me your queen before the five years are up?_ she asked.

 _The shorter the ritual, the weaker the vampire will be. If I were to change you now, you would forever be at your current level of strength._

A frown crossed her lips. Joining him in the Night right now was out of the question. But then why did she have the odd feeling that it was now or never?

 _You fear I will perish,_ he stated, dipping into her thoughts.

 _No,_ Maria said with conviction. _You aren't dying until we've taken our thrones. But something is going to...hinder things. I don't know. It's like I'm trying to read smoke signals in the fog._

He gave an amused sound at the image. _We will destroy this enemy like all the others before them._

Maria believed that, and yet...she couldn't shake the notion that they would suffer a massive loss in some way.

 _If I should die, what will you do?_

She balked at the very idea of him falling on the battlefield. _You're not going to,_ she said fiercely, but then calmed herself and dutifully answered his question. _I'll continue serving Hellsing and Sir Integra in your stead._

 _You won't conquer the night?_

 _Not as a human, no. What vampire would take me seriously, other than Seras?_

 _You underestimate yourself,_ he chided. _You already command my respect as well as that of anyone who knows you. Should you desire it, you could make anyone your servant._

 _Flatterer,_ she smiled.

Having drunk her fill and then some, Maria went to pull away from his neck but he pressed her back against him.

"I'm full," she objected.

The look he leveled her with brooked no dissent. "Drink until I say."

She drank so much she thought she would be sick. Surely she had swallowed the blood of at least two adults, and yet the hands on her back and head showed no sign of loosening their hold. On any other night his blood was the one thing she craved above all else. This was the first time that she loathed it. She felt bloated and nauseous, as though she had devoured an entire Christmas dinner for five by herself. His power was burning in her throat, stomach, and veins like acid, eroding her from within.

 _Please, no more,_ she begged.

 _Your body has handled all of the other changes with ease. The pain will pass._

The only thing that allowed her to continue drinking was the trust that Alucard knew her limits and wouldn't harm her. When he finally released her, it was all she could do to roll sluggishly off him and let out a soft groan of pain. Every inch of her body was burning.

"Open your mouth," he commanded.

She did, and as he loomed over her she could see that he had opened his mouth wide and on the tips of his two enormous fangs glistened a blood so dark it was black.

 _This will be unpleasant,_ he warned, and then he allowed the blood to drip onto her waiting tongue.

Maria couldn't contain the yelp of surprised pain. This wasn't blood—this was venom dripping from the fangs of an adder. It was burning a hole in her tongue, acrid and foul and so overwhelmingly vile that her body's involuntary reaction was to clench her jaw shut.

Alucard prized it back open with a gloved hand and continued his ministrations, despite how Maria flailed uselessly as she clawed at his back. Her throat seized, refusing point blank to allow the vitriol to enter any further into her body.

 _ **Swallow,**_ the No-Life King commanded in hypnotic overtones she was helpless to refuse.

Her throat eased and she managed a gulp. She could feel the pitch slithering down into her stomach like a parasite burrowing in search of a lair. This hell continued for what felt like days but was probably only a few minutes, and when Alucard removed his fingers from her mouth and allowed her to close it she immediately curled in upon herself as she struggled to overcome the agony.

"The blood you drink from me is diluted," he explained matter-of-factly as he watched her writhe beside him, "because it is too powerful for a human to withstand. I have just given you some of it in its purest form."

Maria could hardly hear him over the shrill ringing in her ears. She had been thrown into the fires of Hell. She recalled how he had once told her that only those too cowardly to face death became vampires, but this was worse than a hundred deaths.

She reached for him blindly and when her hand met his arm she immediately pulled him against her. His cool body soothed her boiling flesh and his hands running through her hair and down her back helped to pull her back from the brink of madness.

"Come," he whispered in her ear. "We will sleep in my coffin."

Maria was still in too much agony to string a sentence together so she simply clung to him as his shadows enveloped them and brought them to within his black coffin. It wasn't exactly made for two people, so she lay on top of him chest-to-chest. Her head was nestled against his neck in his long black hair and his hands were wrapped securely around her.

 _Why…?_ she managed to ask. Why the coffin? Why this torture now?

 _You must stay with me to help recover, and I would be remiss not to rest properly on the eve of battle. It is too early to give you this much power, but if your body doesn't reject it you will have more than enough strength to uphold your duties as queen in the event of my absence._

She didn't like this use of the word "absence," but was too exhausted to do anything more than close her eyes.

* * *

 **A/N:** Follow and review if you like what you see! Thanks for reading.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N:** This chapter was so much fun to write, though challenging. I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

"Wake up."

Maria opened her eyes on command, though they were leaden and sore. It felt like the hangover all over again. They were in her room and she was under the blankets while Alucard stood beside her positively radiating his impatience for the night to begin. Walter had come and gone and had left half a blood bank's worth of medical blood on the table. Alucard had already had his fill, judging by the thirty-odd empty ones littering the table and floor.

"We leave in an hour," the vampire said. "Hurry and prepare."

Her first order of business should have been a shower, as she had sweated like a pig due to her body fighting against his blood. However, the blood was glinting like rubies on the table and she forgot the ache in her bones. She grabbed a packet and drank from it as though she hadn't drunk in months. Another, another, another without pause until there were no more and she was finally sated.

Alucard wore a pleased grin as he watched her guzzle it all down. "So your body accepted my blood. Remarkable. Were you any other human you would likely have died."

Thanks to her meal the pain vanished and in its place was a resounding force that resonated within her. The dark powers that Alucard had given her coursed through her veins stronger and clearer than ever, and she was itching to see just how much her abilities had improved.

She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a grateful, warm kiss that he returned briefly before pulling away and spinning her by her hips toward the shower. He had only one thing on his mind now—destruction.

"I'd like to know more about the specifics of the mission," she said as she headed into the bathroom.

Alucard appeared in the bathroom just as she stepped into the shower. His low voice was dripping with excitement. "We'll be taking one of the fastest stealth fighters in the world and crashing it straight into the deck of the battleship."

"We'll _what?!_ " she cried and wrenched open the shower curtain to gape at him. "I don't care if you gave me a river of your blood—I won't survive that!"

"You will. And once we land on the plane, you will slaughter all of the crew while I kill Rip Van Winkle."

"How many crew? And I'm assuming these are all vampires?"

"Approximately forty."

Her stomach flipped nervously and for a moment she thought she might lose her breakfast. Crashing a plane into a battleship. Killing forty vampires on her own. She could feel without a doubt that the hell she had endured last night had vastly increased her powers, but surely Alucard was overestimating her abilities. Even the average vampire wouldn't be able to do the things he was demanding of her.

The only thing she could do was put her faith in him.

Maria dressed in her Hellsing uniform and compulsively checked and double-checked both of her guns and ammo. She cleaned her already pristine blade as well, and as she was polishing it Suflețel appeared to rub against her hand, its red eyes glowing inquisitively.

"Remember the chaos I promised you?" Maria asked it. "Well, it's finally here."

The kitten let out a gleeful mewl and began to purr.

"I've never seen such a pathetic excuse for a familiar," Alucard growled from the bed, where he was watching Maria prepare. "It's unbefitting."

Maria picked up the kitten and cuddled it to her chest, stroking it affectionately. "Nonsense. I need a familiar that can dance between the mundane and monstrous just as I do. And I know for a fact that she managed to land a pretty good hit on Mr. Eyes last night."

The Nosferatu looked homicidal. "Only because I ordered the dog not to kill it in one bite."

"Yes, yes. Keep telling yourself that."

Maria laughed as he turned his glower on her. It was a dangerous game to rile the No-Life King, but it was so very amusing. All of her preparations complete, she slid the sheath onto her back. There were only twenty minutes until they were to depart for the airfield.

"Are you going to say goodbye to Seras with me?" she asked him.

He ignored her, and with a shrug of her shoulders she phased to the great hall where they had enjoyed Christmas dinner just the night before. The Wild Geese were there reviewing their plans of attack in the event of a siege.

"Maria!" Seras exclaimed gladly upon her arrival. She handed a blueprint of the manor to Pip and asked him to continue the briefing before she came to Maria's side. "I heard that you and Master are being deployed soon."

"Yeah. T minus twenty minutes," the brunette said with a forced smile. "How are the fortifications coming?"

"Well," Seras said with her own brittle smile. "Morale is good, all considered."

Maria nodded. There were a lot of things that she wanted to say to her best friend, like _Be careful,_ and _Don't blame yourself if this ends poorly._ But her stupid tongue had turned to lead.

Seras pulled her into a bone-breaking hug. "You'll be with Master so I know I don't need to tell you to be safe, but...be careful," she whispered. "I'm going to see you at sunrise."

The teen returned the embrace just as fiercely. "Same goes to you. Do your best and I'll see you at first light."

When Seras pulled away her smile was trembling. She reluctantly returned to the discussion with her men and Bernadotte traded places with her. If he was feeling nervous, there wasn't a trace of unease about him. This was just like any other night to him, judging by his easy grin and laid back air.

"Ma moitie," he greeted. "You have fun killing all those Nazi vampires with Alucard."

She chuckled despite herself. "Yeah, you too. I'm going to see you and Seras at sunrise when this is all over."

He tipped his hat in agreement. "Of course. I told you I'm not dying until I've deflowered the Police Girl."

"That's the spirit," Maria laughed and gave him a hug. As she embraced him she whispered in his ear, "You better not die and leave her all alone."

"I wouldn't dream of it," he said seriously, and with a friendly pat on her back stepped back. "Happy hunting."

Maria threw an arm up in farewell to all of the Wild Geese. "Men, give 'em hell!"

They all grinned and offered her similar cheers, and Maria took a second to memorize this moment. Come morning, everything would be different. She could have phased to the front doors of the manor where Alucard was waiting for her, but she needed time to collect herself before she met him. He wouldn't understand her tears.

The ride to the airfield was silent. Maria drummed her fingers on her knee as she stared out the window with her familiar on her shoulder. Alucard's expression was serene, but there was a fire burning in his crimson eyes that promised chaos. She found herself wondering how much of the eagerness she felt was her own and how much was his.

The stealth jet was small, made only for the pilot. She sat on his lap and rested against his chest, her greatsword in its sheath beside them. The glass door closed over them and sealed with a sucking sound and then they were taking off like a rocket. The force of the thrust was so strong that Maria gasped as she was pressed against Alucard and the breath was sucked from her lungs, but his strong hands on her thighs reassured her and when they leveled high above the clouds she could breathe again.

"Your presence will be masked by mine," he said as they shot through the sky. "Use that to your advantage."

She nodded. They were already over the ocean and she marveled at how she felt only butterflies in her stomach. It was only a month ago that she had been reduced to a useless, shivering heap when faced with the sea. Just how much power had she absorbed last night?

 _She awaits us,_ he growled, and his grin was full of daggers.

Suflețel appeared on Maria's lap. In its excitement for destruction its little black body had lost its definition—it rippled and distorted like the rolling clouds of an incoming maelstrom. Maria could see the battleship ahead of them, little more than a pinprick. Alucard murmured the words that would unleash his powers and his shadows danced around them as his long black locks slithered through the air like snakes made of lightning.

Without any notice, the nose of the plane tipped down and they were careening toward the battleship at mach speed. Just like with takeoff, all of the air was sucked from her lungs and Maria could only clutch desperately to Alucard's arms. His hands were on her waist, keeping her pressed against him and secure. She saw something like a laser blast from the deck and rocket toward them in a wild, unpredictable zig-zag, and when it collided with the tail of the plane she jumped in surprise, but Alucard just squeezed her waist as his grin deepened.

It was Maria's first battle in the war, and she would be fighting alone against forty vampires. She was currently in a plane that was on course to nosedive into a battleship in the middle of the ocean, and the plane itself was being bombarded by a bizarre projectile that cut through the metal of the hull as though it were paper. By all accounts, she should have been terror-stricken. Her heart should have been cacophonously beating against her rib cage.

But within her was nothing but a great ocean as calm and smoothe as glass, and in the depths swirled the frenzied riptides of bloodlust and warmongering. She was ready for this.

Alucard gave a deep, mad chuckle and vanished from beneath her as his shadows vied with the flames licking at the exterior of the crashing plane. He was outside it, flying alongside it on shadowy wings and hands.

 _Show them what it means to trifle with the dead,_ he ordered her.

She phased out of the plane moments before it impaled itself into the deck in a fiery explosion to reappear in the midst of the control room and fifteen or so vampires. Suflețel changed into its true form and Maria took out her greatsword as all of the men began firing, but her shadows swallowed the bullets before they could reach her.

Lunging forward with a laugh and malicious glee in her emerald eyes, she replied reverently, _Yes, my King._

Maria heaved her massive blade through one soldier, cutting him diagonally down the torso and clear in two before swinging up to behead the man beside him. The vampires were faster than the eye could see as they grabbed for her, but she was even swifter. She thrust her sword into the floor and from it exploded a mass of black shadows that scuttled across the ground like tarantulas, up the vampires' legs and chests and into their orifices. They screamed and clawed at their chests desperately, tearing away their uniforms and flesh until they each wrenched out their hearts that were covered in her writhing, parasitic shadows.

Their screams faded as they turned to dust, and when her shadows rushed back to her they brought with them the lifeforce of each of her victims. She felt their strength and vigor pouring into her and she gave a laugh as her power increased even further. It was enough to get her drunk and she couldn't wait to use the rest of these rats as fodder.

Suflețel, irritated that she had hogged all of the vampires for herself, gave her a reproachful look.

Maria stroked the shadowy beast's head and said with a smile, "Don't be so sour. We'll split the deck, okay?"

Its multiple red eyes closed in a fanged smile and the two of them phased to the absolute turmoil that was the topdeck. The acrid smell of burning metal and smoke was overwhelming, and the black smoke rolling off the skeleton of the plane was like a thick fog, but Maria's third eye allowed her to penetrate it easily. Though she couldn't see him, she knew that Alucard was at the other end of the ship where he had cornered Rip Van Winkle and was taking his time with her. The rest of the vampires were all rushing toward him in an attempt to save their commander, but Maria gave Suflețel a look and the two of them blasted off like rockets in their direction.

True to her word, Maria allowed her familiar to take half of the vampires and she delighted in seeing her pet tear apart and devour them as they screamed. Just like before, her shadows fanned out and snuck into the soldiers, sinking its fangs into their hearts and driving them mad until they gutted themselves in search of release.

As Suflețel returned to her side licking its lips with a great black tongue, all of the power of the dead flowed back to her borne on her shadows. She understood now as their vitality coursed through her veins exactly why Alucard delighted in the carnage. With each soul she rent the more her own existence was reinforced and the more alive she felt. Her body was practically humming with power that begged to be released.

The only enemy left was Rip Van Winkle, whom Alucard had grabbed by the throat and shoved against a wall. She whimpered pathetically as the No Life King took her own weapon and impaled her with it, pinning her to the wall and leaving her to cough up blood helplessly. Maria watched as he took his time on the ground, lapping up her blood languorously before leering over the fallen vampiress a final time. He brought his lips to her neck and sank them in gently—caressingly, even—and as she watched Van Winkle's grimace turn from agony to ecstasy Maria glowered.

A hitherto unknown fury built up inside her as she watched Alucard give this woman pleasure that was reserved for his queen and his queen alone. How dare he bestow that upon this lowly vampire who hadn't even managed to injure him?

Her quiet moans died and the light in her eyes faded, his shadows swallowed her until there was nothing left but her musket. He took the huge gun in his hand, the moonlight catching on the glint of his glad smile and his laughter shook the stars with its insanity.

Presently he fell silent but his crimson eyes were twinkling with delight as he tossed aside the musket and turned his gaze upon her.

"You are irresistible," he murmured as he glided toward her. He cupped one of her cheeks as she glared furiously up at him. "I can see the depths of hell in your eyes."

"I ought to send you there," she spat. "Why did you kill her like that?"

There wasn't an iota of contrition on his features at her accusation. On the contrary, his smile only grew. "Jealous?" When her frown tangled into a snarl he gave a soft laugh. "She came here knowing that she was merely an easily crushed distraction, and yet she fought well. I thought she deserved a reward in death."

" _That_ sort of a reward isn't allowed," Maria seethed. "Don't even try to tell me that you'd be forgiving if I did the same thing."

"Fair," he said after a contemplative pause. "If it's any consolation, her blood wasn't nearly as delicious as yours."

"Like that sort of flattery could—"

Her tirade was interrupted by his mouth on hers, greedy and commanding. The hand on her cheek moved up to tangle in her hair as the other one went to her hip to press her against his rock hard length.

She was still enraged with him, but the fury coupled with the rush of victory and power compelled her to throw herself into the kiss, turning it downright vicious as she wrapped a leg around his hips and ground against him.

Her shadows circled around them, their tendrils entwining with Alucard's own and she let out a low groan of pleasure when the contact sizzled like electricity through their mental connection. It felt as though their very souls had collided.

"Stop," he growled as he nipped her lip. Their shadows receded into their silhouettes. "I may forget that you're still a human."

Maria nodded and then kissed him again, wrapping her arms around his neck as she crossed both legs behind him. Their clothes melted away and the cold winter breeze nipped at her flesh and excited her further. Alucard felt warm comparatively and she pressed her breasts against his chest as she rubbed her dripping pussy against his aching length.

"Millennium is almost certainly surveilling us," he noted as his hands on her ass guided her to drag against him in the most tantalizing way.

"Good," she panted, nipping his ear. "I want the world to know that I am your queen and you are my king."

He gave an amused "hn," and she felt something come to rest in her hair. She didn't need to touch it to know that he had given her her crown.

"I never thought," he groaned as the head of his cock paused longingly at her entrance before continuing to slide up and down her wet folds and teasing her swollen pearl, "that five years would feel so long."

She laughed into his long inky locks before sinking her fangs into his neck. He grunted his favor as he ground himself against her quicker, and when she seized his mouth and tongue in a grueling kiss so that he could taste his own blood in her mouth, his hips jutted against her in a staccato rhythm. Seeing him come undone and knowing that she was the one responsible for it was enough to send her crashing over the edge of ecstasy, and as she quivered against him with a soft cry he spurted his seed all over her wanting womanhood. What she wouldn't have given to have him cum inside her, filling her with his essence and claiming her body and soul.

"In due time, my queen," he promised in a whisper against her ear.

They shared one final hot kiss before she unwrapped her legs from around his waist and stood up. He was kind enough to manifest her clothes along with his own, only he had garbed her in the white dress instead of her Hellsing uniform.

His shadows were licking up the hull of the massive ship like flames and she could feel the boat beginning to move with a groan of protest. Maria willed her shadows to assist his and their speed increased.

"To London," Alucard said with a smile, looking out to the endless black ocean and towards their destination.

With her third eye she was able to see far, far away their city. She gasped in horror when she took in the smoke that hung over the entire metropolis like a fog and realized that it was aflame. So that had been Millennium's aim—to attack England while Alucard was out of their hair. Maria thought of all of the innocent humans caught up in this. How many were burning alive? How many were being devoured and turned into freaks by those Nazi abominations?

The sweet little girl she had saved danced through her mind and it felt as though an icy fist had seized her stomach in a vice-like grip. Was she alright?

Alucard draped his red coat over her shoulders and she clutched it shut as she remained captivated by the destruction in the distance.

"Faster," she whispered. "Make this ship go faster."

The vampire gave a short bow of recognition and she felt the ship lurch forward beneath her feet. He had been content to let the Nazis enjoy the night they had anticipated for fifty years, but perhaps he could feel her turmoil and decided to hasten their arrival.

"I'll see that they rue this day for all of eternity," she vowed, her face set in a determined frown. "The very instant we return I will hunt them down like rats."

He chuckled in delight at her words. "Can you truly kill 1000 vampires on your own?"

"So long as this rage is burning within me, yes."

They were quiet for a long time with only the sounds of the creaking ship and the frothy waves between them. This was fine by Maria, who was absorbed in imagining all of the different ways she could make their slaughter as quick yet painful as possible.

"Maria."

She snapped out of her dark musings at the sound of his voice and turned to look at him. He looked both bemused and pleased with her.

"You were right," he said, "about the Frenchman."

Her contempt towards the Nazis and her eagerness for the next battle was momentarily forgotten as she jumped up and down with joy.

"I knew it!"she crowed. So elated was she that she grabbed ahold of his arm and bounced in place, which caused his lips to curl into an irritated scowl. "Oh, lighten up!" she laughed upon seeing his displeasure. "It's cause to celebrate! The one good thing to come from this horrid war! Wait, two. Seras drank, didn't she?"

"Yes. How—"

"The key to her embracing the night was always Pip," she answered before he could finish the question. "Honestly, she's your fledgling. You ought to know better than me."

Still looking irked, he shook his arm free of her hold. "No one could have predicted this outcome," he told her. "How did you know he would become a vampire?"

"I told you before. It's just clear."

"It is clear only to you. Explain yourself plainly."

Maria sighed and thought hard, trying to refine the wisps of knowledge into something more tangible for her king.

"It's like...each person has their own ball of light inside them," she explained slowly, chewing over her words as she said them. "And they're all twinkling. If you look at each twinkle very, very closely you can see that each one is a story what was, is, and will be for that person. I think certain sparkles catch my eye somehow and that's how I know the things I do."

"But you can't harness this ability yet," Alucard surmised.

She shook her head. "No. I don't know how to and frankly, I don't want to. Neither monster nor man should know their future. That's too much power."

He agreed, "We would be nigh invincible."

His curiosity itched at her brain. Though he agreed with her that it was best not to know, he couldn't help but wonder what was in store for him and the two of them. Maria shot him a look and she felt the tendrils of his consciousness retract from hers.

London wa close enough now that Maria didn't have to rely on her third eye to see the red and orange glow of conflagration as the entire city was swallowed in chaos. The unmistakable stench of acrid smoke and burning flesh reached her nose and her grimace grew afresh. Fog gathered and enveloped the massive ship, hiding it from view of any onlookers as they rode up the Thames.

When the breeze carrying the stench of death and destruction reached them Alucard took in a deep, slow breath. He could have been rediscovering the perfume of an old lover, judging by the nostalgic twinkle in his blood red eyes.

"This familiar smell," he sighed, "The smell of men impaled, of women cut down, of burning children, elderly shot in the street… The smell of death. Of war."

His shadows were crazed daggers dancing around him, his human facade slipping in his excitement to reveal the fanged grin of a beast hell bent on catastrophe. His lust for war was so strong that it flooded into Maria and she found herself clenching the haft of her blade on her back with an iron fist. She would level this dingy city in a righteous tempest.

"Alucard," she said, and he looked away from the flames and to her with mad reverence. Maria put a warm hand on his cool cheek as she whispered, "You will find your way back to me and Seras and Sir Integra. Carve these words into your soul."

His brow wrinkled in bewilderment at her sudden command, but she seized his mouth in a long, desperate kiss before he could demand an explanation she didn't have. Though he had ordered her to stop it the last time, she willed her shadows to entwine with his and the two of them pulled each other close as electricity sizzled through their link, carrying with it the other's unbridled emotions. Maria poured in all of the devotion and love she felt for him and in return she was rewarded with his pride and reverence.

 _My queen,_ he breathed, _Nothing and no one will keep me from you. I will never relinquish my hold on you._

Her heart clenched with gladness and some other heavier, painful emotion that she couldn't name. When she retracted her shadows and body from his she felt a loss profound. He was so painfully beautiful, even when he was consumed by his monstrous side as he was now.

Suflețel was beside her watching the two of them boredly. She climbed onto the massive shadow beast's back and gave Alucard one more fleeting glance before her familiar leapt off the deck and into the sky. He never broke their gaze as the distance between them grew. His face was blank, but even from this far away Maria could see that his eyes were smouldering with more than just the flames of war.

"Come, Suflețel," she murmured as she finally looked away from her king and to the ruined city beneath them. "The chaos I promised you is at hand. Kill any and all you see that aren't humans."

The cat let out a snarling purr of glee and shot toward the ground to land in a sea of the undead. They filled the entire road like a putrid river seeking out warm flesh to tear into. Suflețel instantly began tearing into them as Maria pulled out her sword in a smoothe, practiced motion. As she swung the blade in a wide arc and beheaded all those around her, her shadows fanned out and snaked into each ghoul. A hundred ghouls began to twitch and seize uncontrollably before foaming at the mouth and turning into dust as her shadows ate their hearts heartstring by heartstring until there was nothing left.

Suflețel gave Maria a meow of betrayal as she once again stole the familiar's prey but the brunette just laughed as the lifeforce of the dead rushed to her.

"Go your own way, then," she told the beast. "I'll call you if I have need of you."

The many-eyed behemoth rubbed its nose against Maria's affectionately and then shot off down the street like a bullet with a scream like a mountain lion's.

It seemed that the majority of the vampires were near the city center where there was also a heavy concentration of holy power. As she culled another horde of dead with her blade and parasitic shadows she vaguely wondered whose side the Vatican was on tonight, but then decided that it wouldn't matter one way or the other once Alucard reached them. He was there now with Sir Integra and Seras—she could feel their presences distinctly despite the distance.

Maria would focus on containing the spread of the ghouls, making sure that no more were infected and that all these poor souls found peace before the night ended. She knew that Alucard wanted it that way—he wanted all of the toughest foes for himself.

She swung her blade a thousand and one times and laid to rest ten times as many dead, yet she felt no fatigue. On the contrary, with each swing and each soul she absorbed the more energized she became. These human souls carried only a fraction of the strength the Nazis on the ship had, but the sheer number of them made up for that a hundredfold. Was there a limit to how much she could take in? Would her human body burst?

No, it wouldn't. After all, it was her right as queen to acquire subjects. A grin of sharp shark's teeth was on her lips as she pirouetted, the blood of the corpses around her spurting out like geysers. It splattered across her face and she lapped at the rivulets, enjoying their metallic taste.

Had these all been soldiers, Maria would have felt the same elation Alucard did at the sight of their demise at her hands. All she felt now was a relief knowing that these innocents' night of horror was over.

Maria dashed through the streets, swiftly and thoroughly obliterating each undead she encountered. Suflețel was only a couple kilometers away doing the same; she could feel the beast's joy and the rush of power they both gained when it killed a freak.

 _Return to me._

It was Alucard's voice, only it was the voice of the girl form he sometimes assumed. Suflețel appeared beside her in a split second and Maria clambered on its back before it ran effortlessly up a four-story building and dashed from rooftop to rooftop toward the city center where her king was.

The blood of the dead coursed through the streets like rivers and it was all streaming to one central point, to the No Life King who laughed madly, drunk on the nearly infinite power. They were still several blocks away when suddenly the blood froze and Alucard stood stock still, an almost childlike look of wonder on his young face.

Something was terribly, horribly wrong.

She urged her familiar on as she watched his body shift and contort. Hundreds of eyes of all colors appeared and opened all over his body and he turned his gaze to them with a sort of calm surprise. And then one after another they all closed as if falling into a slumber they had sought for an eternity.

 _No!_ she yelled to him as the many tendrils of his consciousness shrank and fizzled into the ether with each eye that shut. _Fight it!_

His ruby gaze was the softest she had ever seen it as he gave her a smile that was as relieved as it was sad.

 _No,_ he said serenely, _this is goodbye._

Her heart nearly stopped and a panic unlike any she had ever felt gripped her body and soul. Desperately she screamed, _It_ _ **isn't!**_ _You will find your way back to me! You're mine and you can't leave unless I am with you._

But the great third eye in his chest slowly closed like the sun setting over the horizon, and with it so too did the crimson eyes whose fire had died. His body faded into the air until all that was left was his cravat floating to the ground like the torn wings of a bat.

Maria reached out desperately for their bond and screamed in anguish when she could find no trace of it. That piece of him had been with her from the moment they met and without it a chunk of her very being had been ripped out. She couldn't breathe. He wasn't supposed to die. He wasn't supposed to leave her.

Suflețel's presence filled her mind, caressing her and trying to ground her to reality once more. But its touch wasn't the cool, reassuring one that she craved more than air and blood.

All Maria could see was crimson as a fury that rivaled the Rapture itself devoured her. There was no God in this desecrated world of madness, so she would become a goddess of chaos and rule over all, meteing out the agony and despair these wretches deserved. She would not rest until every last soul on this pathetic planet felt the same torment she did.

Maria thrust her arms out and tossed her head back. "Come to your queen that she may rule over all," she commanded, and the vast rivers of blood began to flow again to her like a tide of swallows flocking to their roost. Her body absorbed it all, on and on as the power mounted and built to the point that she thought she would explode with the force of an atomic bomb. Her long curls sizzled and fanned about her like Medusa's head of snakes and her shadows grew large enough to blot out the pink sky heralding the coming of the day.

"More, more, more!" she commanded, cackling. "I won't stop until I've taken in every drop!"

The deluge gradually slowed to a trickle until it was no more and Maria's entire body hummed with a level of power that she had never dreamed attainable. Just a simple twitch of her hand at her side and the two story building several yards to her left crumpled as though it had been hit by a wrecking ball. Suflețel stood beside her in enormous proportions. What had appeared before her first as an unassuming black kitten had transformed into a mammoth monster of black shadow and flaming eyes that promised damnation for all who dared look upon it.

"Maria!"

She turned to the voice and recognized the woman as Sir Integra. She was bleeding and Seras was at her side.

"Stop immediately!" she ordered.

Maria cocked her head at the blond as a smile dripping with evil grew on her lips. She had never been bound to obey as Alucard had.

"Maria! Master expects us to serve Sir Integra as he would!" Seras reminded her. "Call off your shadows. We're returning home."

There was a great explosion in the distance and the brunette realized that the airship had gone up in flames, putting an end to the last of the enemy. Alucard's tattered cravat lay on the ground on top of the bloody Hellsing seal that had adorned his gloves. Maria unhurriedly glided toward it and when her fingertips grazed the seal as she grasped the cloth the pentagram vanished. A burning sensation like holy water seared her right hip and she grunted in outraged pain.

She could feel its magic working, forging chains to seal away her powers behind airtight walls not even her shadows could penetrate. She snarled in rage as she realized that she would be unable to wreak the mayhem she so craved, that the strength she had only just received had been locked away beyond her reach. Her shadows that had been trying to swallow the sun shrank and conformed to her silhouette and her long curls smoothed as her jagged fangs shrank into human teeth. Suflețel gave an indignant roar as it shrank, its many eyes fading and shadows taming into soft, inky fur until her familiar was no more than a black kitten.

"Maria, stand down. That's an order," Integra said in the same commanding tone she had used with the Nosferatu.

The girl found her mouth spitting out the same words she had heard him utter a hundred times. "Yes, my Master."

"Is Alucard dead?" the Hellsing heir asked the two of them.

His cravat clenched in her hand, Maria closed her eyes and once again sought out their connection. In the very furthest reaches of her consciousness she could detect the slightest trace of his familiar cold, a flicker of icy fire that lapped at her mind as though it were fuel. She gave a sound of delight. He was gone from this world, but he was still alive—he was still within her as he always had been.

"No," Maria answered, "though he is very, very far away."

Sir Integra nodded and then nearly collapsed against Seras, who put an arm around her. The sun was beginning to peek over the horizon and the three of them hastened back to Hellsing manor, which lay in ruins. The corpses of the Wild Geese and the Nazis littered the rubble and a heavy sort of acceptance settled on her shoulders. They had won, but the cost was so high it hardly seemed a victory.

"Sir Integra!" Pip turned away from a heavily bandaged mercenary, a relieved grin on his face as he took in the three women. He looked the same as ever, though his visible iris had turned a deep burgundy and his canines were more pronounced.

"Status report, vampire," she demanded.

The captain leapt in surprise at the title, and the hint of a smirk quirked Maria's lips. It was so like Sir Integra to dispense with the pleasantries.

He quickly wiped the shock off his face and stood at attention. "The enemy was defeated but in the process we lost all but seven men."

"So that leaves seven infantry, Seras, Maria, you, and myself." The Hellsing heiress sighed and wiped the blood from her brow. "Tell me that we still have running water at least."

"Er...the east wing was mostly unscathed so perhaps you'll have luck there. Sir, do you mean that Alucard is—"

"On a leave of absence," Seras cut in, casting Maria a furtive glance.

"And Walter?"

Sir Integra's tired grimace turned into one of mixed disgust and sorrow. "Dead, as fits all traitors."

Maria gasped—she hadn't seen him on the battlefield. She had assumed that he had been fighting elsewhere. Traitor? The Walter she had known since infancy would never do such a base act. Surely it was a mistake.

 _I'll explain later_ , Seras promised her. Now isn't the time.

"You three will report to my office in thirty minutes," Integra ordered. "In the meantime take care of the casualties."

They all saluted her and watched as she walked down the debris-ridden hallway, her posture upright and proud though the weight of the world was certainly crushing her.

It was nearly seven in the morning and the sun had now risen. There were dark circles under Pip's eyes but he valiantly continued working with the men to find and identify the fallen. Having only joined the night a few hours ago, he was too weak to withstand the sunlight and Seras had expanded the majority of her newly found powers during the conflagration.

This left Maria and Suflețel, who grew to the size of a horse and allowed her to pile bodies upon it. The two of them darted across the grounds and to the crematorium where they inserted the men before doubling back. The sun was a blinding laser that pricked at Maria's skin like needles, but new cells replaced the burnt ones faster than she could even see. Her body was using the sea of souls she had absorbed as a balm, sapping their life force and turning it into her own.

She and her familiar made quick work of it, as neither of them desired to tarry in the daylight and Maria owed it to the loyal men to see that they found peace as swiftly as possible. Once finished, they returned to the castle where the brunette used her shadows to force the rubble back to its former glory. Splinters flew back into fallen beams of wood and chunks of stone returned to the walls as the panes of glass reformed until the only evidence of the battle was the blood that splattered the walls and floors. Her shadows took care of this as well, coating every surface like glue and sucking up each drop until finally, her home was as pristine as she had left it at sunset.

"It doesn't seem like it's possible," one of the soldiers, a short tawny-haired man named Rogers said beside her as he took in her handiwork in awe. "Just a couple hours ago there was a crazy troupe of Nazi vampires invading and slaughtering everyone, and now it's like none of it even happened. Which is real?"

Maria put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it, fixing him with a weary look. "Both are," she told him heavily. "Don't forget that."

She watched as the hope on his face crumpled and he nodded.

Maria was no longer sixteen. She had aged a century in this one night and she trudged up to Integra's office with heavy feet as Suflețel padded beside her. The other three were already there. Integra had cleaned up and wrapped a bandage over her eye which was slowly turning red. She needed a doctor, but there were none to be found here and communications were still down. She too looked as though the night had stretched on for an eternity. There were deep dark circles beneath her eyes and her brow was marred with too many lines.

"The war is won. Millennium is gone for good, as are all of their vampires," she said. "Now we must rebuild."

The three of them nodded and waited for her to propose her plan.

"Tonight a suspicion I have long held was finally proven. For every hundred monsters there is but one man who can defeat them. One family alone cannot suppress the evil of the world and therefore the Hellsing line will end with me."

Seras gasped. "Sir, then what will become of the Hellsing Organization? Who will keep the vampires in check?"

"Maria and Alucard will," Integra said with a smile.

The two vampires turned their gaze to Maria, who was looking at her master with a pleased smirk.

"The true vampires will all be incensed by this war," she continued. "Many of the covens will see this as their chance to overthrow our branches all over the world in an attempt to take back the reign of terror they once held, particularly once they learn of my plans to let the Hellsing line perish with me."

"And so Alucard and I will establish our sovereignty over them now," Maria surmised.

"Precisely. You will unite the covens all over the world under your rule, and then when the Hellsing Organization is no more it will be your kingdom to govern as the both of you see fit."

Maria gave a bow as she brimmed with excitement. "I understand my role. What of Seras and Pip?"

"Captain Bernadotte will continue his duties as Captain of forces. Seras will replace Walter as my aid in day to day duties."

The two of them nodded their acceptance.

"We've a lot of work to do, the four of us," Integra said quietly. "Get some rest and report back at sunset. Mission accomplished, men."

They all bowed to her and left her office to head to their chambers. On the way they found the seven soldiers and ordered those still conscious to go to sleep.

In the dungeons Seras and Pip stopped at the door to her room and Maria continued toward her own without pausing. The draculina watched her go, frowning.

"Maria," she called, and the brunette halted but didn't turn around. "Are you alright?"

In the short span of twelve hours Maria had come to know what true Hell was, and Seras was asking if she was okay?

Laughter mad and unstable bubbled up within her at the absurdity of the question, her silvery cackle echoing off the stone walls as she slipped into her shadows and into her chamber. She turned silent as her eyes fell upon her bed. Alucard wasn't waiting impatiently there for her, and he wouldn't be for a very long time.

It hadn't even been a full year since they had begun the ritual, but it was incredible just how quickly and thoroughly he had become an indispensable facet of her life. How would she sleep without him beside her?

Suflețel jumped onto the bed with a mewl in answer to her musing and Maria couldn't help but smile just a little. Her familiar had been a gift from Alucard as well, hadn't it?

She removed her crown and placed it tenderly on her armoire before undressing. Thanks to her voracious shadows she and her clothes were immaculate, but she still tossed the white dress into the hamper and hopped into the shower. The water was as hot as it could get and it scalded her flesh, but she relished the searing heat. It served to remind her that she had made it. Seras and Pip had survived as well, and though the one person she wanted most was gone he would come back to her.

So long as the little flame of his being stayed alight in her mind, Alucard would return.

On the table was a large iced tray of medical blood likely meant for the two of them. She wondered who had placed it there, as there were so few staff currently. Despite the fact that she had drank a sea of blood tonight, her throat burned with thirst and she tore into each packet in swift succession until not even a drop was left.

Sated for now, she crawled newd into bed. Suflețel gave a welcoming meow and curled up over Maria's neck but it wasn't enough to satisfy the longing. She needed something to hold, and her familiar seemed to understand this because after a few moments it became as large as a panther and threw a paw over her. Maria nestled instantly into the beast's silky fur, rejoicing as its deep baritone purrs resonated in her chest.

"Thank you," she whispered to it.

It replied by dragging a sandpaper tongue up her forehead and then giving a tired sigh.

In moments Maria was asleep, and in her slumber she dreamt that she flew into the flame of Alucard's being within her, and when she came out of the fire she was on a battlefield. There was an entire ocean of men, women, and children of every race and creed surging toward one lone man clad in nothing but rough brown pants and brandishing a greatsword. His hair was long black curls and his eyes were the same blue as the fire that connected them.

Maria flew to him on an invisible wind and touched down beside him. His blue eyes shot wide in surprise before turning bored.

"Are you here to kill me too?" he asked.

"Of course not," Maria said with a smile as she reached up to run her fingers through his coarse curls. "I'm here to remind you that we're all waiting for you on the other side. Hurry and return to me before I'm an old lady."

He chuckled even as he braced for the onslaught of dead that were charging ever closer. "I look forward to seeing you with gray hair and wrinkles."

Maria kissed him and bit down on her own tongue to allow him to taste her blood. He gasped and cast aside his blade to grab ahold of her with both calloused hands.

"Încă," he demanded, and she obliged him by dashing her tongue open once more and letting the sweet scarlet sacrament flow into his waiting mouth. He let out a groan of longing and satisfaction and Maria could feel his feeble shadows come to life and snake up her legs.

When she pulled away, crimson flecked his blue irises and a rivulet of her blood dripped down his chin. She wiped it away with a thumb that he caught instantly in his mouth and licked clean.

"Drink from me whenever you are in need," she whispered to him. "I will become your strength just as you have become mine."

Her hold on this world was waning and she was fading, becoming transparent as her soul began making the sojourn back to the land of the living. Alucard was staring at her as though he had never seen her as clearly as when she was vanishing, gratitude and devotion shining from the depths of his gaze like the moon breaking through clouds.

* * *

 **A/N:** Phew! This was a rollercoaster of a chapter. I just couldn't bring myself to kill off Pip. My one biggest complaint with the manga is that he died. I cry every time I get to that chapter. Please follow and review. :) I also have an original fantasy story on fictionpress, so head to my profile and check it out. Thanks!


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N:** Welcome back. Now we are officially in uncharted territory, in that I veer away from the manga's plot and into my own. I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

That night when Maria awoke she was still tired. It felt like she hadn't even fallen asleep, though she knew that to be untrue. Her tongue still stung from where she had sliced it open and the stuttering flame within her had grown if only infinitesimally.

"He's coming back," she said to Suflețel, who was still curled up with her like a great panther.

It gave her a nonplussed look as if to say, _Of course he is. What else would he do?_

Maria laughed, giddy and carefree despite her fatigue. She got dressed in her Hellsing uniform and then headed upstairs to the kitchens, where she knew the medical blood was stored in a specially lined fridge to keep the smell even from a vampire's sensitive nose. She opened it and saw that it was filled to the brim with blood of all types. There were easily a thousand of them, and Maria silently rationed them out. There would likely be a shortage for several months to come what with the London Blitz so they would have to think ahead. Alucard had always had only two or three per day, so she figured that would be sufficient for both Seras and Pip. And as for herself, she would need twice or thrice as much if she were drinking for the two of them. She tore open a Type O and sipped from the tube as she set about making a dinner for the men and Sir Integra. One of the first orders of business for Seras would be hiring new servants.

She had never been a chef, though as a girl there had been a motherly cook who had taught her how to make cookies and simple meals. She called upon those memories to whip up a plain but hearty chicken noodle soup with biscuits and a side of steamed vegetables. She readied the dishes and food in a small hall just outside the kitchen and then used her powers to send a message to all staff.

 _Maria here. All able bodies report to the dining hall for a hot dinner on the double._

She then sent a private message to Sir Integra. _Sir, I've readied a dinner for everyone. Would you like it in your office or in the hall with the men?_

 _That was incredibly thoughtful of you. I'll take the meal in my office._

 _Understood. I'll be there in a few minutes._

The men staggered in, bleary eyed and bandaged. When they saw the humble meal on the table before them they all grinned and laughed. Stevenson, who had been close friends with Hayden, wrapped his arms around Maria in a tight hug.

"This was exactly what we needed," he told her.

"I'm afraid it's about all I can do," she apologized.

"This is plenty," another man said, and three more offered their agreement as they dug in.

Seras and Pip came in, looking fresh and positively glowing. Maria supposed this came with properly embracing the Night. All of the men stood and saluted but Pip quickly waved them down and took a seat with Seras at the center of the table.

"What's on the menu, ma moitie? I'm starving," the Frenchman said, rubbing his stomach emphatically.

Maria just grinned as she presented each vampire a tall stein full of blood. They both balked and Pip demanded to know why he didn't have a bowl.

"Have you forgotten what happened last night?" Maria asked him. "You can try the soup but I don't think it's going to agree with you. I put garlic in it."

His expression turned serious as she regarded the ruby red, viscous liquid in his mug. Seras had taken her stein in her hands and was gazing into its depths with a sort of detached acceptance. She had come to terms with this aspect of her existence last night.

"Don't be such a pussy, Captain," Stevenson egged.

"Yeah, c'mon," Rogers agreed. "You knew what you were signing up for last night. Don't be a little bitch."

A chorus of "Drink! Drink! Drink!" grew in the room and Maria was honestly shocked. She hadn't expected any human to encourage him to drink blood, even if he had become a vampire. The Wild Geese were the most unflappable people she had ever met.

"Oh, shut up already," he snarled, and tossed back the stein like a professional alcoholic. He chugged all of its contents in a matter of moments and slammed the empty mug on the table, scowling.

All of the men just laughed at their captain and conversation carried on as though nothing was awry. Maria ducked out of the room to finish drinking her own meal before readying a tray for Sir Integra and phasing upstairs to the doors to her office, which she knocked on politely before entering.

Sir Integra bade her enter and Maria did so. The blonde sat behind her desk in her standard dress, a cigar between her lips as she squinted to read paperwork with one good eye. Maria placed the tray on the mahogany desk and watched as her master began eating.

"It's good," she complimented. "Making decent meals, knocking before entering… Keep this up and Alucard isn't going to have a job when he comes back."

She laughed. "I'm glad you're pleased. How is your eye?"

"It's done for," she admitted. "I'll need a doctor."

"Shall I search for one or have someone else do it?"

"I'll have Seras do that. All communication lines are still down. I'll need you to relay correspondence to the Queen tonight."

"Of course."

"Also, this is the intel we have on the major covens within the UK." Sir Integra gestured to several fat files on the corner of her desk. "I recommend that you begin with the covens close to home and then the American ones, as Millennium wiped out the President and the Cabinet members, one of which was head of the American branch of Hellsing."

Maria nodded and took the files to peruse. Even with Alucard's aid, it would be an insurmountable task to kill all of the vampires that existed. It was for this reason that Hellsing had arranged treaties with the covens of the UK, promising that so long as the covens kept their activities secret, Hellsing would leave them be. Because they were all content to fly under the radar, Maria had never had any contact with these covens. Alucard had also never spoken of them to her.

"Sir, do you think they'll take me seriously?" she asked.

Sir Integra looked the teenager up and down before buttering a biscuit. "Of course they won't. You're a little girl before the eyes of century-old monsters. You'll have to do what I did when I first inherited this title."

Outside of the fact that she had stumbled upon Alucard and killed her conniving uncle, Maria didn't know anything about that part of her master's life. After all, it was only just after that that Alucard had found her.

"You must make your authority so iron-clad that no one dare question it. Put the fear of God in them."

Maria grinned. She liked that idea.

"You will of course uphold the same pride and honor of the Hellsing Organization so long as I am alive, though," Integra added threateningly. "Nothing as sadistic and unwarranted as Alucard in his haydays."

"I wouldn't dream of such a thing," Maria said honestly. "He ruled with fear; I want to rule with sovereignty. Though I may employ a few of his tactics at first to reassure the naysayers that I am his queen."

Sir Integra nodded. "I trust your judgement. Establish contact with them soon and inform me of the developments regularly."

"Yes, my master." Maria bowed. "Thank you for allowing me to do this. Alucard will be delighted upon his return."

"About the vampire. You're certain that he hasn't been killed?"

"Yes, absolutely. It's faint, but there is still a very small piece of him in my mind connecting us. He is weakened but draws on power from me. He's fighting his way back to us as we speak."

"And when do you expect him back?"

Maria bit her lip as a frown formed on it. "I can't say. He said he looks forward to seeing me old."

Integra frowned. "If that bastard thinks he can shirk off his duties for that long he's sorely mistaken."

"We'll have to devise a good punishment for him."

"There is one more thing I want to discuss before I dispatch you. When you touched Alucard's sigil it was transferred to you. Do you know why?"

"I assumed it was because it recognized me as his."

Integra wiped her mouth daintily with the cloth napkin. "Not quite. That seal was created by Abraham Van Hellsing to harness and subjugate him to serve our family's purposes. Specifically, it locks away the souls the vampire has to command at his disposal. Any other vampire can only create ghouls out of flesh and blood and once that ghoul is shot in the head or heart it is no more. You may have realized by now, but Alucard's unique vampiric ability is retaining the souls of his victims to resurrect at his leisure decades and even centuries after their demise. So long as he houses those souls within him, he cannot be killed because he will simply substitute their life for his.

"It isn't uncommon for a fledgling to inherit their sire's abilities," Integra continued as Maria listened raptly, "but Alucard informed me before the battle that you were already demonstrating your own unique talent to read souls."

"It's a passive ability," Maria corroborated, "and not one I intend to develop."

"Nonsense. It will become an invaluable tool for a successful reign. You need to know who can be trusted and who will betray you." Her fists clenched momentarily before she swallowed down her hurt. "We are veering off-topic. It is hitherto unheard of for a vampire to have two of these abilities. Though Alucard is likely the strongest vampire in existence, even he has only the one skill. For you to have two, and for them both to be manifesting so clearly when you are still human is astounding. Your mind should have shattered from the pressure of holding in so many souls of the dead. How many did you absorb?"

The brunette shook her head. "I don't know. I'm not sure if it was because Alucard vanished or because the power drove me crazy but the only thing I could think about was destruction. I also didn't want all of those perfectly good souls to go to waste. I knew that neither of us would likely have such an opportunity to increase our forces again."

"Pragmatic if demented." Maria's shoulders dipped as she realized the monstrosity of her thinking. These souls would remain trapped within her until they were used, birds in the cage of her heart. Sir Integra took in her guilt-stricken face and continued, "You now carry the strength of hundreds of thousands of souls within you, and you must remember not to let the power get the best of you. Alucard housed them within the immortal body of a vampire, but you are still flesh and bone. You mustn't forget that for all of your power, your physical form is still a brittle human's. If you sustain a grave enough wound, you may not be able to recover from it in time."

Maria mulled over all of Sir Integra's words carefully, considering each and every facet. "Alucard told me that he was surprised by how easily I accepted the powers he gave me. That I could do things no other queen before me could even once they turned. He thought maybe it was because I had been with him since childhood, or that it was a sign that it was my birthright to be queen. What do you think?"

Integra puffed on her cigar. "It was something we discussed on several occasions. I imagine it is a combination of those two factors, along with the fact that you are the most willing of all of his brides to date. Let's face it—Alucard has never been known for taking feelings into consideration."

"I see. Thank you for all of this. It's been very illuminating," Maria said with a small bow. "So to reiterate, tonight you would like me to contact Her Majesty and begin formulating a plan for diplomacy with the covens."

"That's correct. Here is the letter you are to hand directly to her. You should find her at this safe house." Sir Integra handed her a heavy letter in an embossed cream colored envelope. "Now go."

But Maria hesitated to heed her master's order. "Sir, I was wondering...about Walter."

She watched as Integra's face sank into a bitter, sorrowful frown. "Yes, I suppose you missed that part of the night, didn't you?" she said quietly. "Have a seat and I will tell you."

The brunette took a seat in the chair opposite the desk, apprehension gripping her heart. They had said he was a traitor, but how on earth was such a thing possible? As Integra explained the butler's treacherous designs the leaden feeling of shocked disbelief and disappointment only grew. The man whom she had counted as a father in many ways, who had bandaged her bruises and brought her her meals and taught her how to drive, had been plotting his betrayal for perhaps decades. She couldn't believe that a man as kind and humble as Walter would throw away his ties both of duty and of love for the sake of a battle. Had it been worth it?

Tears threatened to cascade down her cheeks, but Maria forced them back. Her master was undoubtedly just as distraught—if not more so—yet she was maintaining her usual steely, flat-faced expression.

"I see," the brunette whispered finally. "I wish...I wish I'd have known. If I could have foreseen it, maybe…"

Her master fixed her with a cold glare. "No," she said simply. "What's done is done. We can only move forward now. Be on your way."

"Yes," Maria said, and though her heart was still heavy she gave a nod of farewell and allowed her shadows to whisk her away to the old manor outside of Exeter. Two threatening men in black stood guard at the door and their hands flew to the guns at their hips upon her appearance a few years from them. She threw up her hands and said with an easy smile, "Sir Hellsing sends her regards. I'm to deliver this letter directly to the recipient."

"What credentials have you?" the men asked, guns trained on her.

"Well, I've got the Hellsing uniform, this letter has Sir Integra's seal, and I did just travel here by shadow… If that still isn't enough we're at a bit of an impasse."

The door behind them opened suddenly to reveal another guard in black. "Let her in," he commanded.

Maria gave a nod of thanks and dropped her hands before following the man inside. The manor was a modest three story home consisting of a main, north, and south wing. The guard led her inside, up the stairs to the east wing, and into a bedroom that was flanked with two more guards. Inside was the Queen herself, who greeted Maria, read the letter's contents, and then asked Maria questions about the status of London and of Hellsing headquarters. Lastly, the Queen handed her several more letters to be given to all surviving members of the Round Table.

"You're a much more agreeable servant than that vampire," the Queen commented with a smile as Maria took the correspondence from her hands. "I could never imagine him becoming a runner boy for anyone."

"Sir Hellsing said something similar as well," Maria chuckled. "He may be out of work when he comes back."

"And he _is_ coming back?"

"As sure as the moon will rise, though I can't say when."

Her Majesty sighed. "I suppose it will be after I'm gone."

Maria offered her an apologetic smile. "Is there anything else you wish of me, Your Majesty?"

"No. You may go."

So the brunette spent the vast majority of the night phasing all over England as the Round Table's courier. Phone and radio communications weren't expected to be restored for at least another few days, and many of the roads had been destroyed by the blitzkrieg so Maria had become the speediest and most reliable method of message relay available.

While she was happy to be of use to the Round Table as it was important to prove her trustworthiness to them for the time Integra announced her plan to entrust the world's vampire population to her and Alucard, she was also itching to return to her chambers and begin formulating a strategy. She had never imagined that she would be forging the foundations of their rule by herself. She longed to pick Alucard's brain for ideas, as he was one of the few people in existence in this age who had actual experience claiming thrones and establishing a reign.

When she finally reported back to Sir Integra with the results of the correspondence, she was pleased to see that Seras had found a doctor and her eye had been treated. It had been past the point of salvation and the doctor had excised it by the optical nerve. It was covered now with many layers of white gauze, and she looked weller for it.

"Good work," she commended. "Now you're the only one here who can make anything halfway edible, so fix everyone something for dinner and you will be free of your duties for the rest of the night."

She obediently made three large lasagnas with a side of spinach and mushroom tortellinis in beef broth along with a modest salad for each man, though she was gritting her teeth in irritation towards the end. She had much more important things to focus on than making sure everyone was getting their recommended servings of vegetables. Besides, the smell of the food made her stomach roil unpleasantly in a paradoxical mixture of hunger and revulsion.

It was nearing 4 a.m. when she finally returned to her chambers and sat down at the table before the files. She pored over them intently, memorizing and analyzing each minute detail. There were six covens in the UK that had agreed to cooperate with Hellsing, the largest and most powerful boasting fifty-seven members and the smallest only seven. Each coven was comprised of vampires that were led by one or two gerents, older and venerated vampires that claimed leadership over the coven. There was scant data on each individual that comprised the members, but she absorbed what little the files had to offer before formulating a tentative plan to run by Sir Integra the following evening, as she could sense through the connection created by the pentagram on her hip that her master was now asleep.

Seras and Pip were on the floor above her in the file room where Walter had conducted most of his day to day paperwork. Though she couldn't stop yawning, she felt that she should make an appearance and reassure them that she was mostly sane, given the way she had left them cackling madly the previous morning.

She arrived to chaos. The large stone room was wall-to-wall file cabinets that contained all of the extant records related to the Hellsing Organization, from the mundane grocery receipts to mission reports. Nearly half of the drawers were open and various stacks of paper and files were on the three desks in the center of the room and even on the floor. Seras and Pip were searching desperately for something.

"Oh thank God you're here," Seras exclaimed upon seeing her friend. "Please tell me you can help me find the personnel files so I can figure out how to arrange for new staff. I've never been in this room in my life."

Maria gave her friend a smile. "Files on the left half of the room deal with missions and the like. Files on the right pertain to mundane matters like personnel." She crossed the room, opened a drawer and pulled out a file labeled "Filling Staff."

"We've been looking for an hour and half!" Pip exclaimed in frustration. "How did you know where it was?"

"I used to help Walter with paperwork," she shrugged as she handed the file to a relieved Seras and set about tidying up all the stray files. "What others do you need?"

"Things related to recruiting men, replenishing munitions and food, and arranging funeral services."

It took a little bit of searching, but in no time she had procured the proper files and placed them on Seras' desk while Pip watched from a chair, his boots propped up on the desk and hands on the back of his head.

"You should be doing this job and not me," Seras muttered unhappily.

"I think I'd rather be doing this than what I've been doing tonight." She filled them in on the plot she had concocted to sway the covens and the two of them stared with their open mouths.

"You're going ahead with this without Master?" the draculina said in disbelief.

Pip added, "Sounds like suicide."

"It might be," Maria agreed with a sigh. "It's not going to be easy to convince them that they should bow down to a human girl when Alucard is gone and I can't say when he'll be back."

"Why not wait until he's back then?" the Frenchman asked.

"It could be a year from now or it could be decades from now. We have to establish an order before the covens begin vying for power or breaking our treaties."

"Well, if there's anything we can do you can count on us," Seras said with a fanged grin. Bernadotte tipped his hat in agreement.

"Likewise. So, Pip, how is the Night treating you?" She hadn't had a chance to properly speak to him since his transformation.

"It's...weird," he said, frowning as he struggled to articulate himself. "I don't need to breathe and I'm not hungry. Just...thirsty." He looked uncomfortable, obviously still not completely at ease with the fact that he would be sustaining himself on blood alone indefinitely. "But my eye is back, sort of, which is nice."

"Sort of?" He was still wearing his eyepatch, which prevented Maria from seeing what he meant.

He pulled up the leather to reveal a bright red iris within the pitch black maw of his eye socket before sliding the eyepatch back down to hide it. "It's a bit too Terminator for me and probably for the men."

Maria and Seras chuckled. "Don't worry," the curly haired girl told him. "When you get stronger you'll be able to change your appearance easily."

"And how are you? I understand you've taken Alucard's mantle, so to speak."

"Ah, that." She found her hand ghosting over the red pentagram tattooed on her hip. "It's probably for the best. I don't think my human body could control that much power by itself. I flicked my wrist and a building nearby crumpled like paper."

"Holy shit! Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I was also seriously planning on killing Sir Integra and Seras, but the seal kicked in before I could. Sorry about that, by the way." Maria gave Seras a contrite nod.

"All's well that ends well," the blonde said easily. "I felt Master's bond fade when you did too. I've only had that bond for a few years and it still felt like a part of me had been torn out. I can't imagine what it was like for you."

"It's back now, though," she said lightly. "Have you felt it?"

Seras' brow bent in surprise. "No. Really?"

"Maybe it's just me, then. Yesterday I had a dream where I visited him wherever he is, fighting a sea of humans. And since then his presence has grown the slightest bit stronger in my mind."

The blonde beamed. "There's nothing he wouldn't do to come back to you."

Maria laughed, feeling glad herself. "I never thought I'd feel happy that he was so possessive." Heaving a yawn she rose to her feet. "I'm off to get some sleep, but first thing tomorrow I'll label all of these cabinets for you so it'll be easier to find what you're looking for."

"I love you," Seras said by way of thanks.

"Love you too," Maria cooed with a giggle and then bade the two goodnight before returning to her chambers and curling up with Suflețel.

* * *

That day she had no dreams, just a quiet darkness. Yet when she awoke she felt so tired she could barely keep her eyes open and her neck ached. Sluggishly she rubbed at the offended, pulsing flesh and was startled to feel a very familiar set of punctures there. The little blue flame of Alucard's connection had grown by an iota, and with a grin Maria realized the cause of her fatigue. If she was drinking for two, she was also resting for two, and when Alucard truly needed to sleep he always did so in his coffin.

 _Sorry,_ she said to him, even though she knew that their connection was probably still too weak for him to hear her. _We'll get some proper rest this time._

Tonight was just as busy as the previous night with her dashing all over the country to relay more messages for the Round Table. She also labeled the file cabinets as she had promised Seras and prepared meals for the men. Sir Integra found the time to look over her proposed plans for the covens and had approved them, so once the rest of her duties to Hellsing were concluded she returned to her chambers and began penning letters to each head of the covens.

 _Esteemed Gerent,_

 _We have not yet been formally introduced, but in light of Millennium's atrocious deeds and the changing world landscape it is paramount to discuss the future of vampire-human relations so that we may continue existing in peace and plenty._

 _I would propose a meeting of all gerents and myself this following Friday evening at a location of your choice. Please confer amongst yourselves and inform me of the precise time and place you decide. I look forward to meeting you and beginning to lay the foundation of a new and united vampire society._

 _Faithfully,_

 _Maria Dragwlya  
_ _Bride of Alucard_

Maria paused as she reread the title she had penned for herself. She couldn't help but think that it looked too ostentatious. Alucard had decided to give her his own last name from the start, but she had never been fond of it. "Dracula" in any form had such a cheesy feel to it now that everyone and their mother thought that vampires were cool. Thankfully, she never had much of a need for a last name, as she had always been within a secret organization and had little to no paperwork with her full name on it. On top of that, announcing herself as Alucard's bride also felt odd. Undeniably that was what she was, but it gave their relationship a certain romantic connotation she felt didn't exist.

Oh, well. She was going for impact, and her full name certainly packed a punch. She poured a bit of deep red wax over the envelope's seam and pressed Alucard's old seal over it. She had seen him use it once long ago and had thankfully found it in the small chest he kept in the corner of his dungeon. While she knew that he would be furious that she had dared rifle through his personal belongings, she also knew that he loved theatrics and would have enjoyed the end result.

When she removed the seal she was met with the menacing glare of a great dragon that was entwined around a capital "D." Oh, yes. Just imagining the looks of horror these vampires would get when they saw that seal made her chuckle. Surely this would set their minds abuzz with a thousand questions. They would first huddle together and pore over her every sentence in an attempt to divine her true intentions, and then with trepidation would agree to meet her.

She turned to her familiar, who at the moment was a bored kitten giving herself a bath on her bed. "Suflețel, please take these letters to the gerents of each coven. Show your fangs but don't bear them."

The cat stood, stretched, and then transformed into the great hellcat of shadows and red eyes. It took the letters in its mouth and swallowed them, and Maria rubbed its nose with a smile before waving it goodbye.

But her work still wasn't over yet. She headed back upstairs and to the kitchen to prepare something for the men to eat while she slept in the day and then went to the filing room to aid Seras in her search for request forms and the like.

The time flew by as she chatted and worked alongside her friend until it was nearly nine in the morning and her body craved rest. She changed into some pajamas and then phased into Alucard's chamber, which was dreadfully cold and gloomy. It had never been a particularly cheery place, but ever since the ritual had begun he was hardly ever in this room and it had an added feeling of neglect about it. His black lacquered coffin was by the far wall and she ran her fingertips across its surface tenderly. His last kingdom, his birthplace and resting place all in one. Though she had slept in it with him before, she had never touched it like this or gotten into it alone. As she got inside and closed the lid, she felt as though she were in a sacred place of worship. The darkness within was absolute; not even her third eye could pierce it. Suflețel appeared as a kitten and stretched out across Maria's heart and neck, purring.

 _How did they react?_ Maria asked.

 _They cowered,_ she said and instead replayed her memories for Maria to watch in her mind's eye. She saw the vampires take the letter from Suflețel's teeth, and as their eyes fell upon the seal on the back their expression turned to one of petrification. The brunette laughed and scratched the kitten's ears appreciatively.

"Perfect," she whispered.

Sure enough, sleeping in Alucard's coffin had been the cure to her fatigue. She awoke the next night feeling just as refreshed as she used to when he was beside her, despite the fact that she was sporting fang marks on her neck again. The blue flame of his presence was still no larger than a tea candle's glow, but it was there and that was all that mattered to Maria for the time being.

* * *

That night, a great shadowy hawk swooped down with a screech from the sky to deliver a reply on thick parchment grasped in its talons as Maria and Seras were out at the shooting grounds helping Pip get used to using his third eye.

"What the fuck was that?" Pip demanded.

"Our new friends," Maria said with a grin as she unfurled the letter and took in the elegant calligraphy. "Tomorrow night will be fun."

Maria was so excited that she could hardly sleep that day. It would be the first step towards claiming their throne, and how she wished Alucard was there to share this with her.

She awoke at sunset on Friday and began her preparations. Certain that he would expect her to wear the white dress if he were there, she slid it on and fixed her long curls into an elegant updo before carefully donning her crown of gold. She took in the woman peering back at her in the mirror. Did she look like a queen? Like a monster or a woman? Her lineless, glowing face was nigh cherubic in its youth and warmth, but in her emerald green eyes was a simmering flame of Hell's depths. Suflețel sat on her lap and looked up at her curiously.

"Do I look commanding?" she asked it.

If it could have laughed, it surely would have. Its pitying look seemed to say, _You silly human._

Maria laughed at herself. There was no point in trying to be monstrous when she didn't feel like it. That side of her would rise up when it was appropriate.

"C'mon," she told it as she stood up and placed it on her shoulder. "Breakfast, and then we're off."

Suflețel gave a pleased mewl and rubbed against her neck as her shadows swallowed them and spit them back out in the kitchens. Maria had prepared tonight's meals yesterday so she wouldn't have to worry about it now, and she drank down several packets of blood before heading into the dining hall where everyone was chatting as they ate.

Upon her arrival several of the men catcalled as they took in her svelte figure sheathed in the tight dress. Though she had worn this ensemble on several occasions it had never been before the soldiers.

"Hey," Pip cautioned them, "Just cause the vampire's not here doesn't mean you're safe to hit on her."

That shut up the men pretty quick, but Maria laughed. "It's fine. I'm hoping to turn some heads tonight anyways. Thank you, boys."

"Are you ready for this?" Seras asked her as she took a sip from a tall glass.

"As ready as I can be, I suppose. I've never really gone against true vampires like these before, and there's going to be an awful lot of them in one place."

The Frenchman gave her a worried frown. "We can come with you if you need backup."

"Nah, it's gotta be just me this first time. Thanks for the offer, though."

They spoke for a bit more until Maria felt Sir Integra's summons and she excused herself. Her master was at her desk and took in Maria's attire appraisingly.

"Suitable," she deemed. "You're not taking any weapons?"

"I can summon them if the need arises. I am going there with peaceful intentions, after all."

The blonde nodded. "Well then, good luck. I expect a full mission report upon your return. We could also use any intel you can gather on the covens and their members."

"Understood." Maria gave a bow and with a smile vanished from the manor.

She reappeared at the designated meeting spot: a cairn on a hill in Rannoch Moor, Scotland. The large man-made pile of stones had weathered many, many days and nights within this gorgeous wasteland of scrub and glassy lakes overlooked by black, snow-peaked mountains to the north, judging by the moss that adorned it like lace. It was Maria's first time visiting the moors and she was taken aback by their austere beauty.

Now wasn't the time for sight-seeing, though. She felt a presence materialize behind her and she turned to see a woman not much older than she was, garbed in a mauve flapper-girl dress. Her hair was a short, black bob and her eyes were a cold and sharp crimson.

"Where is Alucard?" she demanded.

"Not here. He has entrusted this matter to me," Maria answered easily. "I come alone."

The girl cast about with narrowed eyes, sending her shadows out to search for another presence but found none. She held out a hand and Maria shook it.

"I'm Maude," the vampiress introduced. "I'll show you to the meeting place."

"Maria. Thank you."

Maude turned around and led her down the hill and through the lowland toward the peaks. They glided over the still lakes and peat soil until they reached the foot of the mountains, which they began to climb. This was all done in silence, and just as Maria contemplated asking Maude how much further it was the vampiress stopped and rolled a gigantic boulder to the right to reveal a dark passage into the heart of the mountain.

"After you," she said, gesturing to the steep and narrow path.

It went against her instincts to expose her back to the vampire, but Maria could tell from this girl's aura that she wasn't a particularly strong vampire. She was merely the guide. Giving her thanks, she stepped inside and began the descent while Maude rolled the boulder back into place to hide the opening and followed her.

Down, down, down they went until they were a couple miles below the ground. The path finally leveled out and widened, however, into a long hallway that ended in one ornately carved wooden door. Maria pushed it open and took in the wonder before her.

A gigantic hall big enough to fit an entire cathedral inside it sprawled out before her. It had all been carved out of the mountain, but the ground beneath her was carved to resemble flagstones, and the walls were adorned with intricate frescoes reminiscent of ancient Roman works. In the very center of the hall were seventeen vampires. Three from each coven, with Maude making a total of eighteen.

"You must either be very brave or very stupid to come here alone."

* * *

 **A/N:** And a little bit of a cliff hanger for you. Follow and review! It makes me happy. Also, feel free to check out my original novel on fiction press. There's a link in my profile. :)


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N:** Chapter 19, bon apetit!

* * *

A man emerged from the crowd, incredibly tall and wearing a simple black suit. Deep wrinkles and silver hair placed him in his sixties, but his youthful red eyes told another story. Maria recognized him from the dossiers as LaSalle, gerent of the largest coven and unofficial leader of all the others. She could feel an old power emanating from him not unlike the one that Alucard possessed, and Maria made a mental note not to trifle with him unless necessary.

"Or perhaps confident," Maria offered with a smile, strolling toward him with an outstretched hand.

He shook it with a strong, cold hand and then brought her wrist up to his nose, whereupon he inhaled and his nostrils flared in surprise and he glared at her.

"What is the meaning of this? You are still a human."

Maria had been concealing the beat of her heart until now and allowed it to sound freely. All of the vampires looked at her in mixed shock and want. "Let me assure you that I am human in body only at this point."

LaSalle threw her hand aside and stepped back, looking thunderous. "What game of Alucard's is this? What is he playing at by sending a child here?"

"This is no game," Maria said calmly. "Everything is just as my letter stated. I have come to discuss creating a new world order of vampires with you."

"Then where is he? The so-called 'No-Life _King_ ' wants to establish another failed kingdom and entrusts the task to a human girl?" He laughed derisively and the others joined in.

The slight on her King riled her and she was tempted to slice out his tongue, but she kept her face smoothe. "He is busy tying up some loose ends regarding Millennium, but he trusts me enough to come here in his stead."

"Or you're expendable enough to be sent here," LaSalle hissed, and his fangs glinted.

Maria could feel the blood frenzy growing, making the air cloying and thick. The other vampires were growing restless and their shadows were having a hard time staying in neat silhouettes.

"I didn't come here to kill," she said plainly, "but if you force my hand I promise you will mistake me for my groom."

LaSalle let out a barking laugh and snapped his fingers. Immediately two vampires lunged at her, but Maria just cackled as her shadows shot toward them faster than sound, seeping into their hearts and causing them to scream and rip into their own chests as she drew her greatsword from its sheath and pressed it against LaSalle's neck.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye, and as the two victims' screams died and they turned to dust with their hearts in their hands, everyone else wore looks of aghast astonishment.

"I would prefer it if there were no more needless bloodshed tonight," Maria said in a light tone, but her emerald eyes were sharper than the blade she leveled at the gerent's throat.

LaSalle gaped at her for a moment and then schooled his expression into an easy smile. "Of course. Forgive my earlier rudeness. I can see that even if you are still human, Alucard was wise to put faith in you."

Maria sheathed the blade behind her back.

"Come, let us discuss matters," the man invited, and suddenly a circle of high-backed chairs of shadow formed. Everyone was seated, with LaSalle to her left and a regal red-headed woman to her right. "Now, please tell us what Alucard plans."

Maria regarded each vampire before her as she spoke. "Firstly, let me thank you for agreeing to meet me. It is an honor to be in the presence of so many fine vampires. Secondly, I want to preface this by making it clear that I am not Alucard's messenger, nor am I his servant. I am his bride and equal, and I expect to be treated as such even if I am still a human."

Channeling her master, she gave each vampire a searing look and was pleased to see that most of them were receptive, though there were still a few reluctant to put any stock in a lowly human. That was fine—she didn't need their absolute loyalty yet. The majority would suffice for now.

"Now," she said with a brief smile, "as you are aware both Alucard and I are employed by the Hellsing Organization and we are extremely close to Sir Integra Hellsing herself. Alucard and I have been working slowly but surely to plant the idea in her head that one family cannot possibly combat the powers of the Night alone, and the war with Millennium proved to be the turning point. She believes she has singlehandedly come to the conclusion that the Hellsing family isn't enough. She intends to die a spinster so that her line and the organization will perish.

"When she dies, the question will be what to do about the monsters who will want to roam the world freely once more. The humans in the government will seek to eradicate us, which will turn into a messy affair I'm sure none of us want to deal with. Right now, it is only the treaties you and the other covens around the world have signed with the Hellsing Organization that keep the peace, and while there is some unity of covens within nations, there is nothing to tie us together.

"What we need is an organized, global society of vampires that uphold the noble traditions and pride of old—none of these irreverent upstarts who think their 'immortality' entitles them to any wanton behavior they please. What we need is a uniform and cooperative world alongside the humans' so that when the day the Hellsing line dies, the humans will willingly agree to Alucard and me overseeing all of the vampires."

"You paint a rosey picture," LaSalle said beside her, "and while I would like to see an organized society like in the days of old, there are a thousand holes in your plan. The biggest of which is how you expect the humans to willingly let us do as we please. You are one—surely you understand their fear of anything unfamiliar."

Maria smiled. "You're right that it will be difficult to build their trust, but I have already begun doing so here in the UK and already have plans to plant roots all over the world. I have won Sir Integra's trust, and Alucard and I are both held in high esteem by the Queen, as well as the Round Table. It is precisely because I am human now that I am able to foster the trust necessary."

A haughty-looking woman across the way piped up, "And who says we want you and Alucard to rule over us? What makes you two the de facto King and Queen? He was stupid enough to get caught by Van Hellsing, wasn't he? And over some mortal, no less."

Rage flashed through Maria's eyes at the insult and in the blink of an eye her shadow had crept across the room and rose up behind the vampiress' chair, a hulking amorphous blob of red eyes and fangs that threatened to devour her. Everyone looked to the snarling mass that loomed over her, waiting for Maria's command to descend.

"I'm going to assume that you didn't mean what you said just now," Maria said in a dangerously soft voice, "and that you are deeply sorry."

When the vampiress remained frozen with fear as she gaped at the shadow, it snarled and snapped a set of razor sharp teeth mere centimeters from her nose and she jumped in alarm. "I'm sorry!" she cried. "So very sorry, my Lady. I didn't mean it."

Her shadows melted into the ether and Maria gave the woman a kind smile stretched over fangs. "Apology accepted. You'll find that I am more merciful than my groom—perhaps it's my silly human sensibilities."

She cleared her throat and everyone in the room seemed to jump to attention. Inwardly she grinned. She had their undivided attention now.

"You asked why it should be Alucard and I to head this new world of vampires. It's a valid question. This is the twenty-first century, the age of democracy and free thought, after all. But there are two reasons. Firstly, Alucard is the strongest vampire in existence, and I will likely be second once my transformation is complete. Secondly, he chose me because I can walk the line of man and monster. I carry within me both identities, making me ideal to be the face of a society that must coexist with humans."

"And you don't fear you will lose that humanity once you become a vampire?"

"No," Maria said with dead certainty. "I will never lose it."

"And what are the conditions of your rule?" LaSalle asked. "What sort of rule can we expect of Vlad the Impaler and his half-human half-monster bride?"

Maria chuckled. "A little of both, naturally. You can expect a fair and unbending set of laws from me, and some very interesting punishments for breaking those laws from him." A small leather bound book appeared in her hand and she gave it to him. "This is my proposed legislature. It's a draft, mind you, and I'm open to suggestions, but I think you'll find most of it agreeable. Please look over it." Another identical book appeared in the lap of each gerent seated in the circle.

"We will discuss this matter and get back to you within a year," LaSalle decided.

"Oh no, I'm sorry. A year is much too long," Maria said quickly. "You're thinking in vampire terms, but we need to establish order as soon as possible. Let me know within a week."

"A week?" the woman to her right sputtered. "How could we decide something so important in such a small amount of time?"

Maria shrugged. "That's not my problem. Vampires all have stellar analytic and reasoning capabilities, no? It shouldn't take you that long."

"And if we should decline your proposal?" queried LaSalle, shooting the girl a carefully calm look.

 _I'll impale you and put you all on display for the rest of the covens of the world so they can know the fate of naysayers._ Maria put on a sweet smile and said lightly, "Let's cross that bridge when we get there. It's a very reasonable proposition, and you're all wise."

She rose to her feet then and gave everyone in a room a final smile. "I must leave soon, as I have other duties to attend to for the Hellsing family. I will return here in a week's time to hear your decision. I eagerly await your response."

And with a fanged smile, she allowed her shadows to swallow her up and she was back in her chambers where she let out a long, loud laugh. Suflețel wove between her legs, purring happily. She knew already what their answer would be.

Maria sat down to pen her mission report and then turned it in to Sir Integra, who perused it quickly before looking up at her with a proud smile.

"You put the fear of God in them," she noted.

"Just a taste," Maria corrected. "Next week is when the show really begins."

"Good work, servant. Now I've got another mission for you, Seras, and the Captain. I've already dispatched the other two and you will join them in London. You three will be using your heightened senses to find any survivors."

An excellent opportunity to build up more trust with the humans.

—And to save lives. Maria wilted inwardly. That should have been her first thought upon receiving this mission.

* * *

A week flew by, full of tasks from Sir Hellsing as they all rushed to restore Hellsing back to its full strength. Maria was busy from the moment the sun set until well after sunrise. Each morning she would crawl into Alucard's satin-lined coffin and drift into a dreamless slumber to awake with his fang marks on her jugular. The tiny blue flame was still alight in the furthest recesses of her mind and hadn't grown, but it burned steadily.

It was the night that the covens would announce their decision, and Maria was trembling with excitement as she dressed in a new dress she had had sent to the manor from Milan. The shops in London were all in ruins and she had little else to use her money on anyways. The dress was pure white, its loose flowing material drifting to a little above her knees. Her shoulders were exposed, and the three-quarter length sleeve were a wonderful handmade lace, as was the top third of the front and back. It gave her the look of an angel on vacation, and she was certain that Alucard would appreciate the irony if he were there. She finished the ensemble with her taupe heels, a braided updo, and her crown.

"Is your strategy to win them over with sex appeal?" Bernadotte asked her when she phased into the kitchen. He was standing at the counter drinking from a tall mug.

Maria laughed as she took out a few pouches of medical blood and began drinking them. "If I'm going to be their queen I can't afford to look frumpy."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Good luck then."

She finished her meal, checked in with the men and Sir Integra, and with Suflețel on her shoulder as a kitten she vanished.

Maude was waiting for her at the cairn and the two of them made their way to the cave in silence. Her familiar cast about the cave in interest and the brunette was pleased to see that all sixteen vampires from the previous week were already seated in a circle.

"Ah, my Lady," LaSalle said with a pleased smile as he rose from his chair. He glided over to her and kissed the back of her hand politely. "Please have a seat."

Maria did so and took in the faces of those present. "Thank you everyone for meeting me here once more. Let's get straight to business. What have you decided?"

LaSalle, who sat directly to her left, spoke first. "After much thought and deliberation, we of my coven have agreed to swear allegiance to you and Alucard providing a few points in the treatise you offered are revised."

"Wonderful. Please elaborate."

"Under Section XII regarding the creation of fledglings, it is written that each coven is allowed only one new fledgling per year for the next seventy-five years. Why is this? Why can't we be allowed to make more? Our numbers are a mere fraction of what they were before Hellsing took power."

"Ah," Maria said with a nod. "Alucard and I are all for increasing our numbers, but we must wait until we have the humans' trust. If we suddenly started amassing fledglings it could be construed as amassing forces. Within seventy-five years' time they will have handed over power to us and from there we will be free to do as we please, within reason. Does this sound agreeable?"

There was a consensus of nods.

"And it states under Section VI regarding feeding that each vampire is allowed only two meals per month. Surely this is a bit spartan."

"I was under the impression that the Hellsing treaties allowed only one meal per month, making my proposal much more agreeable," Maria said, brow furrowing.

"That's true," another vampire piped up. His name was Ahlgren and he had fiery red hair. "But one meal a month is practically starving, and two barely sates us."

She silently did the calculations in her mind and then said, "I'm willing to go up to three, but I cannot allow it to go any higher. If there are 150 vampires in the UK, that results in 450 missing persons in a month alone. We must avoid suspicion for now. Can we compromise at three?"

The gerents seemed pleased that she was so reasonable. They must have assumed that she would take the same authoritarian stance of Alucard, but she knew that in these earlier phases, it was necessary to make concessions here and there. They could always change them bit by bit later when their reign was solidified.

"Does anyone else have any concerns? I am open to discussion," she said.

"And Alucard is fine with letting you and us make these decisions?" LaSalle asked, sounding slightly doubtful.

"As I said before, he has left this matter entirely in my hands in his absence. His trust in me is absolute. There is no one in this world who knows him better than I do; he knows that I would never agree to a law that he wouldn't favor."

"You've only known him for fifteen years, though." It was the red-headed woman who had sat beside her last week, who currently wore an expression of hesitant disbelief. "How could the No Life King put his trust in such a young human, strong as you may be?"

Maria kept her mask of patient benevolence up but inwardly groaned. She wanted to steer their conversations away from Alucard and their relationship for as long as possible. If they learned that Alucard was gone from this world and that no one knew when he would return, they would descend upon her like wolves. She couldn't avoid the topic though, as that would be a red flag to them.

She explained, "To put it simply, unlike his previous brides I am destined to walk the Night at his side. Our souls called out to each other the moment he found me as an infant, and we have shared a mental bond ever since then. It is true that we began the ritual a mere six months ago, but the connection we share transcends time."

The vampires around her all wore looks of astonishment. LaSalle closed his slightly agape mouth before asking, "Do you mean to say that you have only been taking his blood for six months and you have already reached this level of power? That's impossible."

Maria chuckled and stroked Suflețel's back. "Even Alucard is surprised. But back to the matters at hand. Are there any other points within the proposed legislature that you find disagreeable?"

"There is one. Section XVIII, the part that details settling disputes." It was the woman who had dared to insult Alucard last week. Her name was Lucerne, and she was the gerent of one of the smaller covens. Maria looked to her and gave her her full attention. "I see that you have decided to reinstate the old succession method: dueling."

"Yes. Alucard was quite insistent on it. He loves a good fight."

Lucerne leveled Maria with a hard, confident glare. "I challenge you, then, for your crown."

The majority of the other vampires gasped, but five others merely stared at Maria challengingly. Her coven and one other had apparently known her plan to take the throne.

The teenager felt none of the surprise the other vampires did. She merely met Lucerne's gaze with her own confident one. "Very well. However, only those vampires who are official members of our society can challenge us, so allow me to clarify—do you and your coven swear your allegiance to Alucard and me?"

"Yes," the vampiress hissed. "It will be short-lived."

Suflețel's back arched and the kitten hissed warningly on Maria's lap, but she patted its back and told it, "It's alright. These are the rules, after all. Stay here and watch."

The kitten glowered at her master's challenger hatefully as Maria rose to her feet and placed the cat on her seat.

"My lady!" LaSalle had risen from his seat and put a cold hand on her arm, stopping her. "Lucerne is exceptionally powerful. Are you sure—"

"What sort of ruler would I be if I couldn't protect my title?" Maria asked him coldly. "If I lose here, I wouldn't be worthy of either the throne or Alucard."

He released her and everyone rose from their chairs before they vanished to leave the wide room empty and free of obstacles. The vampires all backed away to the walls and Maria's familiar did the same, though its red eyes burned like embers.

Lucerne and Maria were in the very center of the room, and the willowy blonde with an oaken face of confidence and loathing stared her down, but Maria merely pressed a hand to her hip and murmured the words that would unlock her power to level one. She could feel the chains around her power melting, could feel the souls yearning to become fodder for her destruction clamoring within her. Her shadows took on a ghastly shape on the floor with a hundred eyes and multiple rows of fangs dripping with saliva.

"How can either you or Alucard claim to be our rulers," the vampiress snarled as she leapt forward, her shadows wrapping around her body like a glove with many great, eyed tentacles prepared to rip Maria into a thousand pieces, "when you yourselves are ruled by a lowly human?"

Her shadows lashed at Maria, but the brunette's own shadow leapt up to deflect them easily. Lucerne's eyes widened in alarm and she changed tactic. When Maria surged forward to stab her hand through the vampiress' heart, she changed into a sea of bats that swooped low in an attempt to overwhelm Maria.

She just laughed, however, as she called her power to the surface and her shadow took on the shape of a behemoth three-headed dog whose ears nearly scraped the ceiling. They let out growls that made the entire cave vibrate and opened their mouths to scarf down the bats like popcorn, but in a moment Lucerne had assumed her corporeal form. She was brandishing a weapon now—a bow and arrow that she had aimed and ready in the blink of an eye. But it still wasn't fast enough, as Maria had summoned her greatsword and had already closed the distance between them. With one clean swing she had lopped off the haughty woman's arm and it soared into the sky where her shadowy cerberus devoured it.

Fear was in her challenger's eyes now as she realized this was no ordinary mortal girl. Maria had the same hellfire burning in her eyes as Alucard did in the heat of battle. There was no winning against a monster of that caliber. She didn't give up, though, using her shadows to knock the arrow once more and fire it at Maria's heart.

Maria caught it with her bare hand and tossed it to the ground with an easy smile. "My groom and I don't mind the constraints. You see, without them the fights end too soon."

She swung her sword again and this time cleaved both of the woman's legs. She screamed as she toppled to the floor and Maria chuckled as her shadows swallowed them up, thereby preventing her from regenerating them. Maria approached her with slow and deliberate steps, the great monster in two behind her and licking its black lips in delight. It knew it would be getting a treat momentarily.

Maria leveled her blade at Lucerne's throat. The vampiress looked up at her with a mixture of seething contempt and fear. She whispered, "What the hell are you?"

With one satisfying slash the vampire's head went flying and her shadows descended upon it and her torso. The challenger's energy flowed into Maria and she grinned as she wiped the blade on a cloth she procured.

"I'm your queen," she answered simply.

All of the vampires stared at her in abject astonishment. No one could believe that a human girl, even if she were Alucard's bride, could have bested a gerent so easily.

"Is there anyone else who would like to challenge me?" she asked lightly. "This one ended before it could get exciting."

All of the vampires before her kneeled in unison, bowing in deference to her.

"My lady," LaSalle said reverently, "we unanimously swear fealty to Alucard and you."

As the Hellsing family restraints took hold again and her power was once more chained, her shadows shrank to assume their normal silhouette and she gave a glad and genuine smile. "I'm pleased to hear it, as will be my groom. Everyone, please rise and let us be seated once more. We must iron out a few more details."

There was a tenseness in the room that hadn't been present before. Bit by bit, she had shown them her power, but they had refused to believe that a mortal could be so strong. It was only after watching her make a meal out of Lucerne, who had walked the night for over three hundred years and was known to command formidable strength, that they could no longer deny the fact that this human was worthy of ruling them.

Their talks resumed, and it was decided that Lucerne's coven would join LaSalle's in order to prevent any attempted revenge or uprisings. LaSalle, who for nearly a century had been the unofficial leader of the covens, would become the head gerent of the UK with all other covens deferring to him. Monthly meetings with all of the gerents and Maria would be conducted from here on out.

Maria returned to Hellsing manor and immediately began bouncing up and down with glee in her chambers as Suflețel watched with amusement. She had done it—the still human bride of Alucard had made all the vampires in England bow down before her, and it had been so _easy._ It was almost frightening how quickly they fell to their knees. Was this the same thrill Alucard felt when he reduced his foes to quivering lumps? The power she felt was heady enough she thought she could be drunk, so euphoric and satisfied.

"And now, America," she whispered, and immediately sat down. She wrote her report for Sir Integra as quickly as possible, her pen practically flying across the page. Next, she readied some fine parchment paper and referring to the files of intelligence on the covens of Canada, America, and Mexico, began addressing a letter to each gerent.

 _Esteemed Gerent,_

 _We have not yet been formally introduced, but in light of Millennium's atrocious deeds and the changing world landscape it is paramount to discuss the future of vampire-human relations so that we may continue existing in peace and plenty._

 _I have already met with the covens of the UK and they have agreed to unite under my groom and me as we walk into the ever-changing night. It would be our greatest pleasure and your greatest boon to do the same._

 _I would propose a meeting of all gerents of North America and myself this following Friday evening in New York City. I look forward to meeting you and beginning to lay the foundation of a new and united vampire society._

 _Faithfully,_

 _Maria Dragwlya  
_ _Bride of Alucard_

It took several hours for her to write, sign, and seal the 148 letters, and once she was done the sun had risen. She looked over to her familiar, who was napping on her bed.

"It's still night in the Americas. Can you deliver these for me like you did the last time?" At her request the kitten stood up and stretched before transforming and swallowing all of the letters. Maria rubbed its nose with a smile before it dashed through the wall and into the ether.

The brunette gave a yawn of her own but headed up to her master's office, where Integra was already busy going through paperwork. Maria handed her the mission report and the blonde looked it over intently while Maria waited.

"Well done," she commended, and Maria inclined her head in thanks. "I'm surprised there was only one that rebelled. Without Alucard's presence I was certain there would be more."

"I was at first as well, but luckily they provided me with opportunities to legitimize my claim as his bride and queen."

"And when will the Americas phase begin?"

"It already has. My familiar is delivering my invitations as we speak. All of the gerents of North America will be meeting me in New York next Friday."

Sir Integra's brow knit. "You don't think it foolhardy to summon a hundred and fifty gerents to one place? One wrong move and they'll rip you to bits."

"That's what I'm counting on," Maria said with a fanged grin. "Alucard's coffin is too precious to justify bringing with me, so I'll need to convince them quickly."

"And you're certain you can overpower them?"

Maria frowned. "Fairly."

"Maria," Integra growled, "do not just leap headlong into this. Can you even imagine what Alucard would do if he returned to find you dead?"

She shuddered at the thought and recalled his unbridled rage like a thousand wild stallions the night Anderson attacked her. She had only been in danger and his reaction had been so incendiary.

"Understood," she said solemnly. "After my interactions with the gerents here I have reasonable confidence that I will be successful. I will also be taking my familiar with me."

Integra heaved a sigh and lit a cigar. "Don't do anything stupid, girl. I have a thousand things to worry about as it is—don't make me worry about you too." Maria nodded obediently and then the heiress asked, "And how is our Count? Any changes?"

"No. His presence is still weak but there, and he drinks from me every night. Resting in his coffin seems to rejuvenate the both of us."

"And have you been able to establish contact with him?"

"Not since the first night where we spoke in a dream. It's obvious that he can connect to me in some way, since he's able to drink my blood each day. But I feel like he's too far away to hear anything I tell him through our bond."

Sir Integra nodded. "Speak to him on occasion. He may be more receptive than you know."

"Understood. Is there anything else you need today?"

"No. Get some rest."

So she did. After a brief shower she crawled into Alucard's coffin and pressed her face into the silken pillow. It still smelled of him and she found herself smiling as she imagined his homecoming.

She reached out to the small blue flame in her mind and envisioned cupping her warm hands around it. The frigid flames licked at her fingers and their cold seeped into her, but it was a familiar chill that she had long associated with the No Life King.

 _You'll be pleased to note that in your absence I've kept myself busy,_ she told him. _I secured the allegiance of all of the UK covens within a week, and I'll be going to America next week. Your name carries so much clout that it does half the work for me, but I still have to prove to them that this beating heart of mine doesn't inhibit me. That's the fun part of all of this. I wish you were here to watch me force them to kiss my boots. Hurry back to me._

The small ball of flame in the hands of her mind showed no change at her words and she felt no indication that he had heard her words, but Maria liked to believe that he had, that on that desolate battlefield her voice had reached him and given him warmth.

* * *

"I don't like you going there on your own. Why can't at least I go with you?"

Seras was watching with a worried expression as Maria packed her suitcase for her flight that would be leaving in three hours.

"I wish you or Bernadotte could come with me, but there's too many reasons why you can't," Maria argued gently, folding a dress. "Firstly, you both are busy with your duties to Sir Integra. Secondly, it's difficult already to prove to these vampires that a human is strong enough to rule over them. If I have a vampire with me they'll think I need someone to protect me and they'll wonder why that vampire isn't Alucard. What I need is a chance to shock them into submission. Besides, the journey would be difficult on you."

"It'll be difficult for you too," Seras countered. "You're not bringing Master's coffin with you and he won't be there to give you his blood."

"True. But this time I've got a couple million souls inside me that are begging to be consumed. They should suffice, though I will be tired without his coffin. I'll do my best to make my stay brief."

The draculina was still unconvinced. Her arms were crossed and she chewed her bottom lip. "Do you know what Master's last words were to me before he vanished?"

Maria paused her preparations and looked up to her friend.

"He told me, 'Seras, don't let her come to harm.' He used my name." Her red eyes were hard even as her lip trembled. "If I failed him and lost you…"

It had only been a little over two weeks since Millennium's attack and Seras was still coming to terms with the loss of their men, Walter, and Alucard. Maria had been so swept up in establishing order among the vampires that she had had little time to dwell on their absences, but Seras had always been hit harder by death than Maria had. She had assumed that Pip would be doing his part to help her move on, but perhaps it would take longer this time.

She wrapped her arms around her friend, who instantly returned the embrace. In a fierce whisper she said, "Seras, I will come back here."

"Do you promise?"

"Yes," Maria said without hesitation.

Seras squeezed her extra tight before letting out a deep exhale and taking a step back. There was still doubt and anxiety in her crimson gaze, but it had been tempered with trust.

"Just be careful, then," the vampiress said. "Don't do anything reckless."

Maria grinned. "Yet another order? I've got one from Alucard to build our kingdom, one from Sir Integra not to make her worry, and now one from you to be careful. If I die I'll be breaking all three."

A small smile curled the blonde's lips despite herself.

Once she was finished readying her suitcase, Maria gave her farewells to Pip, the men, and Sir Integra before getting into a car that would take her to a private airfield with no customs so that she could bring her sword, guns, ammo, and an additional suitcase full of medical blood on board. While she had gained the ability to summon items, she could only do it if they were in a relatively near location so she needed to bring them to America with her.

The plane was a small and private one with only ten seats. Maria reclined hers as far back as it would go so that it more closely resembled a bed and Suflețel grew into a panther so that she could wrap her arms around it and soak in its warmth more easily. She pressed her face into its soft fur and breathed in the faint smell of brimstone and lightning. Whereas Alucard was chill to the touch, Suflețel's body burned as though hellfire itself roared within it.

Maria knew the instant they had crossed over the ocean as the tearing sensation began. Her entire body burned and ached as though there were long fingers pinching and pulling every bit of her in a thousand directions, but she also felt the souls at her command trickle between the slats of their prison cells to coat her in a soothing caress. They were like a gentle stream of water flowing over a burn, taking the excruciation with them. She found herself wondering if this was what it felt like for Alucard when he traveled as well.

They touched down on a small, private landing strip in upstate New York surrounded by fields and pasture and Maria took in a breath of the crisp night air. Suflețel, who perched on her shoulder as an innocent kitten, sniffed the air curiously. Maria had always had two images of America, one being the hustle and bustle of the city and the other of rolling farmland that stretched on as far as the eye could see, and she was pleased to know that she would be able to see both with this trip even if it were only briefly.

A nondescript black car was waiting for her and the driver took her to her hotel, where she was checked in without incident. She had the terrace suite, which was basically a sprawling apartment complete with a king size bedroom, living room, meeting room, kitchen, bathroom, and a terrace that allowed a breathtaking view of the city. Maria felt a bit guilty as she sat on the soft linen bedspread. She had wanted to get a more modest room to save money but Sir Integra had insisted that she get the most expensive room, stating that Maria had to show that she was powerful in every way possible at first. She could afford to be humble later.

The meeting was set to take place in only an hour in the ballroom she had rented out on the first floor. She could feel the entire building thrumming with the Night, could feel each cold presence in the floors beneath her. All 148 gerents as well as their second and third strongest members were present, totalling to 444 vampires against one girl and familiar.

"Suflețel, I'm an idiot," she muttered to the kitten, who just looked at her with an unenthused expression. "They're gonna eat me."

The kitten bit down on Maria's hand, its needle-like fangs digging in deep enough to draw blood. It looked up from the wound and to her, and its red eyes glinted as if to say, Don't forget the power that runs through these veins.

The teen grinned as she licked the blood from her hand and scratched Suflețel's neck with the other. She was thankful that she had at least one friend with her as she marched into the lion's den.

She changed into the white sheath dress with buttons down the side and fixed her curls in what was now her standard updo. This getup was beginning to feel like a uniform. She reverently placed the golden crown of jeweled flowers on her head and admired herself in the mirror. Lastly, she checked and double-checked her weapons before placing them out of sight under the bed.

"Alright," she sighed as she smoothed down her dress needlessly, "let's do this."

Her familiar wove between her legs and gave her an encouraging meow before melting into the floor and into Maria's consciousness, its fire burning in her mind and heart to give her courage. That coupled with Alucard's icy blue presence reaffirmed her. She could do this. She would make them all kneel before her before the night was through.

She walked down the hallway and rode the elevator to the first floor where all of the vampires were waiting in the ballroom. Row upon row of chairs had been placed in the room with an open center aisle that led to a raised stage with a lone chair. Vampires of every color and creed filled the room, and Maria was blown away. America truly was the melting pot of the world—Native Americans in clothes of hide and headdresses of feathers sat beside black women in hoop dresses who sat next to Asian men in business suits. The one thing that this motley congregation had in common was the color of their irises.

Maria strolled down the carpeted aisle with her back straight and chin held high, the picture of poise and confidence. She could feel the vampires shift with her as her heartbeat and scent wafted through the room in her wake.

"You must have the wrong meeting, my lady." A man in an aisle seat said. His slightly darker face and soft lilt suggested that he was of Hispanic descent and the warm smile he gave her was tainted by the fangs that poked through. "You should leave."

"No, Mr. Cervantes, I'm fairly certain that this is just the very meeting I called for." Maria wore a calm smile as she ascended to the stage and took in the sea of confused faces before her. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for taking the time and effort to visit me tonight, and for making what was a very long journey for some of you. I am Maria Dragwlya, Bride of Alucard, and I have come to discuss the future of the vampire world with you all."

A short and stocky man in a black leather biker's jacket stood up, his expression fierce. "What the hell is the meaning of this? Alucard sends some human child to do this dirty work for him?"

There were other voices of outrage and incredulity, and Maria waited for them to simmer down before explaining, "It is true that I am still a human, but Alucard has put his complete faith in me to carry out this task in his stead while he finishes tying up some loose ends with Millennium."

Another outcry followed.

"He's not even coming?"

"It's not like he has the best judgement—he got himself enslaved by that damned Hellsing family, didn't he?"

"Where is he, then?"

"I'll be damned if I'm going to talk with a human as an equal."

Maria watched as the crowd began to boil, refusing to speak with a lowly mortal and demanding that she procure Alucard.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" she said over the din. "Alucard cannot come to this meeting. I have already met with the covens of the UK and they have all agreed to join our partnership without meeting my groom."

"Yeah, well they're all a bunch of pussies then!"

"How dare Alucard insult us by sending some human here!"

"We'll send your bones to him as our reply!"

They had reached boiling point. The crowd was surging as the lights in the rooms flickered out and their shadows came to life like wild beasts, their owners' faces contorting into fanged snarls. They ran at her, so fast that even her third eye couldn't see them all.

Maria swiftly whispered the incantation to release her power to Level 1 and felt the chains and cages burst within her. In one swift motion she unsheathed the greatsword that had appeared on her back and thrust it into the ground. Her parasitic shadows burst forth from the blade like a twilight tsunami, seeping into the bodies of any and all around them and driving them mad with pain. Those weak enough instantly succumbed to the agony and carved out their own hearts, while those who were strong enough to overpower her shadows were rooted to the spot with the effort it took to cast them out. Maria cackled in delight as the power of the dead rushed back to her and with a wave of her fingers they appeared behind her as ghastly, bloody reincarnations of themselves. Nearly two-thirds of the room had become marionettes prepared to bend to her every will.

The surviving vampires who were still fighting against the shadows that sought to devour their hearts stared at her in horror.

"Let's call a truce," Maria said with a warm smile. "I've come here to build a new future for all of vampires, not tear it down."

In the blink of an eye she had slaughtered nearly all the vampires but the gerents and none had even managed to lay a finger on her. They wouldn't dare attempt to kill her now, especially when their comrades were now her slaves. Victorious, Maria withdrew her shadows from the vampires and sheathed her sword.

The hundred and seventy-some vampires were still too astonished to move. They all continued to gape at her as though they were only seeing her clearly for the first time. Maria supposed that they were.

She took a seat on the high-backed wooden chair behind her and fixed them with a benevolent smile, but in her emerald eyes blazed the promise of purgatory for those who dared oppose her. "I hope that this lowly human will suffice instead of Alucard. Now please, let's have a seat and get to the matters at hand. There is much to be discussed."

The vampires all took their seats mutely and Maria proceeded to outline her plan and proposed legislature. They all crumpled as easily as paper and rushed to genuflect at her feet. They had realized the folly of an insurrection and knew that behind her was the No Life King himself. If she didn't kill the rebels, he surely would. There were a few laws that they asked to be revised and there were matters of local government to be attended to, but by the end of the night all of those details had been ironed out and Maria had established her sovereignty over all of North America.

She could have slept the day away in the hotel room, but she wanted to go home and to Alucard's coffin more than anything else. After a succinct phone call to her master to inform her of her success and homecoming she was driven back to the same airport and within a couple hours was flying back to England.

As she clung to Suflețel and allowed her powers to take away the pain an overwhelming fatigue crushed her. It felt as though she had expended every last drop of her energy, even though she knew that not to be the case. If anything, she should have been about to combust with power thanks to the amount of souls she had absorbed that night.

She felt a familiar prick at her neck and gasped in delight as she realized that it was Alucard, come for his daily meal. The blue flicker of his presence in her mind hadn't changed and he still felt no closer to her than usual, but he was there, drinking from her and becoming stronger.

 _My King_ , she whispered excitedly to him, praying that her words would reach him, _the covens of the UK and North America have sworn allegiance to us. Our kingdom is taking shape. Hurry back to help me build it._

And so faint that she could just barely catch it, his baritone drifted to her like a melody on a crisp fall breeze.

 _I fight my way back to you tirelessly,_ my beautiful queen.

Fit to burst with joy, Maria laughed as she ran her fingers along the punctures on her neck, imagining that his marble skin was beneath her fingertips.

* * *

 **A/N:** And so ends chapter 19. Follow, favorite, review, pretty please! And maybe check out my original stuff on Fictionpress. (Are you sick of me plugging it yet? haha)


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N:** Onwards to Chapter 20. Enjoy!

* * *

By the time Maria returned to Hellsing headquarters it was nightfall once more. Though exhausted to the core, she was also brimming with victory and elation. She wrote a detailed report before bringing it to Sir Integra, who gave her a proud smile.

"Excellent," the blonde said. "I can't believe how easily they fall to you."

"Me neither. If Alucard hadn't given me that extra bit of power the night before the Blitz, none of this would have been possible."

Sir Integra frowned. "I shudder to think what you'll be like once the ritual has been finished. One Alucard walking the earth is terrifying enough, let alone two."

"Oh, please. How can anyone with a face as angelic as mine be terrifying?"

"It's precisely _because_ you look angelic that you're terrifying." The two of them chuckled and then Sir Integra asked, "So what is the next phase?"

"Next is South America, followed by Australia and Africa," Maria answered. "I'm expecting to get the most resistance in Europe and Asia, where we have less of a foothold and Alucard has more...history, so I'm saving them for last."

"Ah, yes. Good luck with anywhere that used to be part of the Ottoman Empire."

Maria sighed. Perhaps it was best he wasn't here for this. He would just want to start another crusade against them.

"I can't believe he left and stuck me with the hardest part of this whole thing," she muttered. "I'm gonna shoot him when I see him next."

Sir Integra smirked. "Take this to blow off some steam, then." She handed Maria a piece of paper and the curly-haired girl read it quickly. "There's an uprising of banshees in the north and since no one on staff has ever fought one before I want you to go with Bernadotte and the men. You read the book on banshees I gave you, right?"

Maria gave an apologetic smile. "Alucard gave me a summary. I'll have the men wear wreaths of laurel and ready the machetes."

"Good. I expect you to make yourself more knowledgeable on other creatures in your spare time, along with the rest of the men. With Millennium gone and the vampires of the UK under your thumb, we're more likely to see more monsters coming out of the woodwork. And as queen, it will be your and Alucard's duty to control all the creatures of the Night."

 _What free time?_ Maria thought wryly. She allowed her shadows to devour the mission paper, as she didn't have any pockets in her white dress to store it in. "Sir, do you think I'll be able to take in the souls of things other than vampires and humans? Do they even have souls?"

The look Sir Integra leveled her with was probing. "I read in your report that you increased your forces by over 200 tonight. Exactly what do you plan to do with all of these souls? You do realize they're trapped in Limbo within you until you free them."

Maria frowned and a worm of guilt wriggled about in her gut at her master's words. "I'm not entirely sure. But I need to be prepared for every eventuality. I've been lucky with the UK and the Americas but I'm bound to meet resistance at some point, and I may not have Alucard to help me fight. And even when he returns, I can't say whether he'll still have his collection of souls with him. I must be able to crush any foe and their forces on my own."

"Don't bite off more than you can chew," Sir Integra ordered, and then sent Maria on her way.

Maria phased back to her chambers to change into her Hellsing uniform as she spoke to Bernadotte mentally, asking him to ready the men and acquire the necessary tools for the mission. In twenty minutes they were all ready and crowded around the canvas-backed jeep they would drive to the target.

"Ma moitie!" Pip greeted with a grin when she appeared before him. "It's just like old times!"

She couldn't help but match his grin with one of her own. It had been a wild and incredibly stressful couple weeks since the Blitz, and this mission with her favorite Frenchman would be the perfect opportunity to unwind.

"Yes, only tonight we're not hunting vampires—we're hunting banshees." At the men's incredulous looks she added, " _Yes,_ the screaming hags. Now none of us have ever fought them, not even me, but we should be fine. So long as you don't hear their scream they're easy to kill." Pip passed out the laurel wreaths and everyone took off their hats to put them bemusedly on their heads. Maria continued, "They usually inhabit swamps and are alone or in pairs, but we have the fortune of taking on a choir of them tonight. Intel says there are thirteen.

"Banshees are generally seven to eight feet tall hideous women. Hearing their scream is instantly fatal to humans, but laurel wreaths will turn their voices into harmless but unpleasant nails on chalkboard. The only way to kill a banshee is to behead it, but they also have long arms and sharp claws so beware of that.

"As for strategy, I think it would be best if the captain and I took the front line while you all provided gunfire from behind to distract the banshees. Are there any questions?"

Rogers hesitated before saying, "In the middle of a fight we're likely to hit you both."

Maria laughed. "You don't have to worry about that. Your bullets can't penetrate my shadows. Captain? What about you?"

"I don't know," he frowned. "We've been so busy with training and missions and Seras has been working day and night so I haven't had much time to practice this whole vampire hoodoo stuff."

Maria took out her Derringer from her bra and pointed it at his arm. "No time like the present," she said, and his visible red eye grew to the size of a plate. "Summon your shadows to cover this arm. Coat every single millimeter."

"Those aren't the silver tipped ones, right?" he asked nervously.

The gleam in her emerald eyes was nothing short of nefarious as she said softly, "Let's find out."

"It's like the vampire never left," Pip growled and scrunched his eyes shut to focus on summoning his shadows.

Maria watched with her third eye as they slinked up his body, becoming an ironclad armor invisible to the humans. She squeezed the trigger and was pleased to see the slug hit his shadows and fall lamely to the ground.

"Very nice," she complimented as he wiped sweat from his brow and let out the breath he had been holding in. "Keep those shadows up the entire time we're on the mission."

Bernadotte grimaced. "That's exhausting."

"Only until you get used to it. Mine are up twenty-four seven," she placated, and then turned to the men. "Everyone load up."

"Yes'm!" the chorused.

So Pip could focus on manipulating his shadows Maria took the driver's seat and fired up the engine. Within moments they were roaring down the roads and toward the marsh several hours away where the banshees were congregating.

"I'm sorry neither Seras nor I have had much time to help you," she said presently. "It can't be easy, the transition. She really struggled at first too."

He shrugged as he took a long drag on a cigarette. "It's not as bad as I imagined. The coffin thing is weird though. But I'm getting used to the third eye. How about you? I mean, you're still human. Isn't it hard to get used to the new abilities?"

"Maybe it's because I've shared a bond with Alucard for so long, but it all comes pretty easily," she said. "Phasing took me quite a while, though, and I'm only just getting good at summoning things. And this sword will take decades to master."

"You're more of a vampire than me or Seras combined," he joked.

"There's a crack in the shadows on your leg." She took the exit off the interstate and onto a two-lane highway. "It won't do for a human to be better at being a vampire than actual vampires. Let's the three of us meet up three times a week for an hour to train. It'd be good for all of us."

"Sounds good, but aren't you stretched a bit too thin as it is? You're trying to take over the world by yourself while you do Sir Integra's bidding, and Alucard's draining your blood and energy the whole time."

Maria chuckled even as she rubbed her eyes. "Don't worry about that. Things will slow down before long. Now let's talk about something more interesting—how are things with you and Seras?"

He groaned and leaned his head back against the headrest. "Please let's not discuss that."

"Oh? Trouble in paradise?"

"You could say that."

When he became unusually taciturn Maria turned to look at him. His eyes were scrunched shut in a grimace and he looked half frustrated, half perplexed.

"So…" she prodded, "spill it. What'd you do to make her angry?"

He shot her an insulted scowl. "Why do you just assume it was _me_ who's in the wrong?" It only took a few moments for him to cave to her wilting incredulity. "Fine! Fine! So maybe I did say something in the heat of the moment, but she's holding onto it for way too long."

Maria's interest was fully piqued. "Pray tell, what did you say that has her pissed off for going on two weeks?"

"Well…" He hemmed and hawed for a few moments before heaving an irritated huff, his fangs glinting as he gritted his teeth. Ripping off the bandaid, he said quickly, "So when headquarters were under siege, things were looking bad. That ugly bitch and the soldiers had broken through our defenses and were slaughtering our men left and right. The Nazi cunt nearly killed Seras and I was trying to carry her, get her out of the way, but then I got shot in the gut.

"I knew I was dying, and I was so pissed off by it I couldn't see. The only thing I could think of was Seras and the men and what would happen to them—how they'd be ripped apart by these bastards—and I couldn't stand it. There were still so many things I had to do, and I'd be damned if I was going to let her die.

"I was burning with this determination, and that was when it happened. The blood from our men began to surge toward me, and I didn't have any hesitation. I drank it, and well...the two of us were able to defeat them."

Maria had listened to his every word, but hadn't picked up on anything that would have upset Seras. When Pip fell silent, staring angrily at his hands, Maria said slowly, "I didn't hear anything in there that would upset her though."

"See?" he demanded defensively. "There's nothing bad about it! Just because I said one stupid sentence shouldn't change the fact that I fucking sacrificed my humanity for her. She's being a right bitch about the whole thing."

"What was the sentence?"

His angry scowl shifted into something more abashed as he went back to looking at his hands. He muttered, "I...might've yelled something indecent."

"And that was…?" Maria poked.

The mercenary covered his face with his hands and spoke between his fingers in a groan. "It might've been something along the lines of, 'I'm not dying until I've deflowered the Police Girl.' ...Possibly at the top of my lungs."

Maria laughed so hard she thought she might drive off the road. Of course, _of course_ those would be his last words as a human. She laughed and laughed, longer and louder than she could ever recall. Pip's expression could only be labeled surly as he waited for her mirth to subside.

"You absolute dumbass," she laughed as she wiped tears from her eyes. "You're hopeless. Utterly hopeless."

"Thanks," he snapped acidly.

"But you can fix this," she added. "In a few decades you'll both be able to laugh about it. You just have to make it clear to her that you joined the Night for reasons other than getting your dick wet."

"I've been trying, but she won't have anything to do with me. She acts all professional in front of the men, but she's cold as ice! Won't talk to me unless it's work related. And now that we've both got to start sleeping in coffins regularly we don't have that anymore."

Maria pursed her lips. It did seem like the draculina was taking this all a bit too seriously. "In that case, start from scratch. She's overworked right now and still torn up over all the men we lost. Show her you care. Bring her hot chocolate. Offer to do a bit of her work for her so she can rest. Y'know."

"You should talk to her. You always get her to come around."

"Nah, I'm done meddling," she shook her head. "If she comes to me I'll talk about it with her, but I was only going to help you out until you became a vampire, so now it's all on you."

"'Until I became a vampire?' What, you knew it would happen?"

"I had a vague feeling, sure. Alucard thinks I can read souls and see their past present and future. That's my vampiric ability, on top of Alucard's of enslaving souls."

He gaped at her in horror. "Ma moitie, you've just gotten ten times scarier than before."

She gave a rueful sigh as she smiled. "Now that Alucard's gone I'm sleeping for two and drinking for two. Maybe I've got to be terrifying for two as well?"

"Non non, please don't," Pip said quickly. "So what are these vampire abilities? Am I going to get one too?"

"They're a skill that's unique to the vampire. Alucard's is storing the souls of his victims to use at a later time, mine is reading souls, Zorin's was creating hallucinations. Since Seras only just started drinking hers haven't had a chance to manifest, but I'd assume they're the same as Alucard's. They're often passed down."

"And what will mine be? Read my future and tell me!"

"It doesn't work like that, "Maria said, smiling at the boyish excitement on Pip's face. "It's passive. I can't just turn it on and tune in like a radio station. You'll find out as your powers grow, though. Be patient."

He sighed and then turned on the radio. Rage Against the Machine was on, and with a fanged grin to Maria he cranked it full volume and the two of them began belting out _Sleep Now in the Fire._

The rest of the drive to the marshes passed by in a raucous karaoke session full of righteous air guitar solos and wild drumming on the steering wheel and dash. Maria couldn't remember the last time she had had so much fun.

The arrived at the marshlands at nearly 2 a.m. The marshes themselves were contained within a national reserve, which was good news because it meant that there were no humans nearby. It did also mean, however, that they would have to park the jeep on the outskirts and hike through the woods and soggy marshes in below freezing temperatures in the dead of night. Maria and Bernadotte could see clearly as day but the men all had to stop to put on night-vision goggles before they could proceed.

Maria ran through their mission and strategy once more before leading them through the marsh. She could sense the presence of the choir a couple kilometers in, hanging in her peripheries like cobwebs to walk into. She found it interesting how each being seemed to have its own signature. Vampires felt like pockets of Arctic wind, humans felt like bells ringing on a clear summer day, and ghouls were the smell of carrion. None of it really made any sense when put into words, but an existence couldn't be quantified by something as simplistic language.

She kept up a mental conversation with Bernadotte as they traipsed farther into the marsh and closer to their targets, coaching him on how to use his third eye to sense the world around them. The sooner he embraced his abilities, the less likely he and the men were to come to harm. He understood this and worked hard to do everything she told him.

They had been walking through dense woods for nearly half an hour when finally the trees began to thin and Maria held up a hand to halt everyone. Her greatsword appeared on her back and she put a ready hand on its hilt. Just up ahead through the trees was a misty pond of knee-high water, and though she couldn't see the banshees she could feel that they were there, lying in wait in the dark fog.

The men readied their guns and she and Bernadotte took the front. As the Frenchman took out his machete she withdrew her blade and stepped forward. The moment they left the sanctuary of the trees there was a cacophony of the most horrendous noises she had ever heard. It was like steel beams being ripped, like a cat screaming as it was skinned alive, like lightning cleaving a mountain in two. While the wreaths made their voices non-fatal, it did nothing to make them tolerable.

The banshees appeared, floating out of the haze and toward them with freakishly long, crooked arms that were outstretched. They were nearly eight feet tall and white mist clung to them like tattered drapes that danced in the winter breeze. Their faces seemed to be made of rotten wood that had rested in the marsh for centuries, brown and twisted in a disgusting snarl with jagged twigs for teeth and knotholes for eyes from which eerie white light glowed. Their arms were reaching out to snag Bernadotte and Maria with gnarled twig fingers and tapered claws of bark.

"Time for fun!" Maria cried with a grin, and she and Bernadotte surged toward them as the men opened fire.

With a cry she leapt into the air and brought her blade straight down into the skull of one of the banshees, cutting her straight down the middle before swiftly heaving the blade horizontally to behead her. Her screams crescendoed and Maria thought her ears were surely bleeding, but the monster faded into a cloud of mist.

Its energy flowed into her, and Maria was surprised by how different it felt from the souls of vampires and humans. This one felt like it were half-empty, a faded memory that was a negative of an actual picture.

There was no time to dwell on this, though, as she felt another banshee's claws brush her curls in an attempt to grab her by the throat. Maria phased out of its reach before jumping up to swing her blade and lop off its head. Bernadotte let out a yell as he used a similar technique to behead another, and as it faded into the ether he grinned and ran at another that was gliding toward him.

Gradually the tumult quietened to silence as the last banshee was felled by Pip as Maria watched with a proud smile. The men ceased fire and cheered.

As she siphoned the final banshee's energy and locked it away in the cage Maria sheathed her sword. "Very nice, everybody. Now let's get back home. We're gonna be racing daylight."

By the time they reached the jeep it would be nearing 3 .m. and it had been a three and a half hour drive to get here while obeying speed limits. They'd have to hurry to beat the sunrise.

The slog back through the cold marsh and the drive back to headquarters was uneventful. Pip took the wheel this time and the two of them resumed their jam session and thanks to the mercenary's leadfoot tendencies they made it back just before the sun could begin peeking over the horizon.

Pip took in Maria's dark circles beneath her still lively green eyes and said, "Don't worry about the mission report. I'll take care of it."

She was glad—after taking a quick shower she needed to start writing the letters to the covens of South America so Suflețel could deliver them as soon as possible. After that she could perhaps afford a few hours of sleep.

"Thanks," she said. "Don't forget my advice about Seras."

"Yeah, yeah," he waved her away. "Go get some sleep."

Maria phased to her chambers and enjoyed a brief but relaxing shower before changing into pajamas. Sipping some medical blood, she took out more of her parchment paper and penned a letter to each gerent of all the covens in South America in a similar vein to the previous two. Once signed and sealed she entrusted all seventy-seven to Suflețel, who bounded off to deliver them. As she got into the coffin and closed the lid she tried to stop her racing mind but she had learned long ago that nothing short of the Alucard's hypnotism could put an end to her musings. She was concerned about South America, where Hellsing had no foothold like they did in the UK and America and Canada.

As with all predominantly Catholic nations, all supernatural affairs in South America were handled by Section XIII, who unlike Hellsing offered the vampires no treaty. They sought to crush all evil no matter what, which meant that the covens in South America were few and well hidden. By offering these convens to join her, Maria was usurping the Church's authority and promising them a taste of freedom they hadn't had since the days of the Spanish Conquest. This would be incredibly tantalizing to them, but it would also be a huge risk to Maria. The Iscariot Agency was on life support at the moment, but it would bounce back. It always had and it always would, and when it did they would try to come down on Maria and her people like a righteous hammer.

Eventually she managed to drift into a fitful sleep and was roused too soon by Sir Integra, who was meeting with Vatican officials in a neutral location in Brighton and needed a bodyguard who didn't mind midday. Maria _did_ mind midday though, and practically had to drag herself out of Alucard's coffin and back to her own chambers to get changed into a fresh uniform.

A look in the mirror revealed deep purple dark circles beneath dull emerald green eyes and she looked even paler than usual. Maybe she needed to slow down a bit. Even if she had the power of the No Life King in her veins and a sea of souls within her, it was all housed in a frail human shell.

Come to think of it, she realized as she gulped down a few packets of medical blood in the kitchen, she hadn't had anything other than blood in nearly a week. That surely couldn't be good. She sifted through the gigantic stainless steel fridge until she found a couple apples. Perhaps it was because she hadn't had any food in so long, but they were even juicier and sweeter than usual, stunning her tastebuds. She wolfed down the two of them and then found a couple more, eating every bite possible before taking some bread and eating it plain. It too seemed to be bursting with flavor, even though she had never known wheat bread to be particularly scrumptious. She would have to remember to eat more. Even if her stomach never growled, it was obvious that her body still craved human food.

When she met Integra in the main foyer her master gave her a disapproving look.

"You look terrible," she said plainly.

Maria winced. The Hellsing heiress was nothing if not to the point. "Sorry, Sir. Feeling a bit tireder than usual today."

"I can see that. You'll sleep in the car."

"Yes," she said with an obedient nod, relieved that she would be able to get a bit more rest even if it wasn't in Alucard's coffin.

She slept for the entire duration of the drive and then stood a few paces behind Integra at all times as she met with the newly appointed head of Section XIII in a museum of maritime history before heading to a fine seafood restaurant not far away. Sitting beside her master and eating some shrimp linguini, Maria nearly choked on her food when Integra broached a topic she hadn't expected.

"Deacon Wainwright," she said coolly to the new head of Iscariot, a decidedly scrawny looking brown haired man in his thirties, "I hope it isn't too much of me to ask, but I understand that the majority of your men from around the world were lost in the Blitz. How are your holdings overseas?"

This man was the antithesis of Maxwell. Where the Italian had been unbending and draconian this Canadian was downright meek. An absolute pushover who had been shoved into this position because anyone else who could fill it was dead. The guard next to him was just a regular lackey with a gun who also didn't know what was and wasn't an acceptable topic of conversation. Maria schooled her expression to keep a gleeful smirk from growing on her lips.

"Well, everything's in disarray at the moment," the deacon admitted, frowning. "When we learned that Millennium would strike England, we ordered all of our men around the world back to Europe and left only skeleton crews behind, and now all we have left are those skeleton crews."

Maria lit a cigar for Sir Integra, who took a puff on it. Her face was placid and tone nonchalant. "And the vampires in those countries—how are they taking this?"

"Not well. We had an uprising in the Philippines last week that we barely managed to get under control, and there've been more sightings of vampires in South America even though we were sure we had nearly stamped them out. They are creating fledglings in droves. I think they mean to overthrow us."

"That's not good at all," the blonde noted. "And do you think Section XIII as it stands could suppress such an uprising?"

The deacon's frown only deepened and he put down his fork, too anxious to eat. He admitted quietly, "I don't know."

Maria had known Sir Integra her entire life—she recognized the gleam in her sharp blue eye as none other than imminent victory. She was a hawk diving for a rabbit with its talons poised.

"Deacon, I know that in the past our two agencies have been bitter enemies, but in light of what happened with Millennium I think it best that we put aside our feuds and unite against the forces of evil. Perhaps if we had had this attitude fifty years ago Millennium could have been stamped out back then."

The man looked up to her with wide, surprised eyes, as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing. This was the famed Ice Queen of Hellsing, the girl who had seized her title by murdering her uncle at the tender age of ten, who made no compromises and was as cunning as she was confident. He had clearly been warned to be wary of her.

"What are you proposing?" he asked cautiously.

"I'm proposing a partnership," she answered with a small smile. "It's true that we also sustained heavy losses, but we are already rebuilding. In the spirit of cooperation, I am offering to assist you with South America. I will send my very best men to ensure that the situation is controlled and handled appropriately."

Maria gave him a polite nod. "I went to Brazil just a couple months ago. It was lovely."

"That's Alucard's queen, isn't it?" the deacon asked Integra, looking distrustful.

"Yes, but they are both my servants before anything else, and with Alucard gone to who knows where she may never complete the ritual. She is currently the strongest and most trustworthy member of Hellsing. She has already single handedly quelled a would-be uprising in both the UK and the Americas for me."

Astonished, he deacon demanded, "How?"

"Alucard made her his queen for a reason," Sir Integra replied matter of factly. "Allow her to go to South America and take care of this issue for you. It will be beneficial for the both of us, because if you lose South America the problem will only spread north into our jurisdiction."

The chestnut haired man considered Integra's words carefully. "And at what price does your aid come?"

The heiress held out her hand expectantly and Maria summoned the papers that her master was envisioning. They appeared in the brunette's hand in an instant and the deacon watched the magic show in alarm. Sir Integra slid the three pages of back-to-back contract across the linen tablecloth.

"We will take care of the vampire problem in all of South America for you," the Hellsing heiress explained as Wainwright put on a pair of glasses to peruse the document intently, "indefinitely. Section XIII will still be expected to handle all other supernatural affairs, but the Hellsing Organization will deal with all vampire related matters. You're not losing territory, yet your work load has decreased."

"I still fail to see what you gain from this." Despite his humble appearance, this deacon was wiser than he looked.

"Our boon will come later," Integra said with a steely smile. "For now we simply want to build up a partnership with the church should another war like this on break out. We could have saved many lives if not for our petty infighting."

Maria watched, amazed as the deacon's expression turned from furtive to pensive the further he read. When had Sir Integra written this contract? Though Maria wished she had had a hand in its creation, she trusted her master absolutely to craft an agreement that would suit their needs perfectly.

The deacon cleared his throat and tidied up the papers and Maria handed him a manilla envelope she conjured from the file room at Hellsing Headquarters. He slid the documents inside before handing them to his guard. "I will have to discuss this with His Holiness, of course, but I will have an answer for you within the week. I do believe it is in everyone's best interests to form a partnership."

Integra gave him a measured smile and daintily wiped her lips with a napkin before rising to her feet and shaking hands with him. "I look forward to our new alliance."

Maria gave a respectful bow and turned to leave with her master, hardly daring to believe that she had witnessed what was possibly the first successful alliance between the Catholic and Protestant churches.

It wasn't until they were in the car that Integra turned to her with a grin. "Well?" she asked knowingly. "Were you surprised?"

Maria laughed. "That's an understatement. How long were you planning this? And would you mind if I took a look at that agreement as well?"

"Go ahead." With Integra's permission Maria summoned another copy of the document she knew to be on her desk back at headquarters. She read it from start to finish intently, thrilled with the heiress' shrewdness. The blonde said, "I knew that the Vatican would be asking to meet with us soon, and that they would be hurting. It was the perfect opportunity to transfer their power over the vampires to us. For all the instinct you have for dealing with vampires, there is probably no outsider who knows more about the inner workings of the Vatican than I do, so I took the liberty of crafting the agreement. Consider it thanks for your dedication."

Maria beamed at her master, brimming over with gratitude. "Thank you very much. This means a lot to me."

"Good." Sir Integra's seldom-seen soft smile faded to her usual seriousness. "Now start getting some proper rest. You've got no business looking like the dead when you're still alive."

"Yes, master," she agreed with a grin.

* * *

After a few days of deliberation the Vatican sent word to Hellsing accepting the agreement, and Maria was ecstatic. With this, Hellsing (or really Maria) had total jurisdiction over all vampire related matters in all of South America and was allowed to deal with them as she pleased, though it was taken for granted that she would be exterminating them.

Instead, she would be subjugating them.

The seventy-seven covens met with her gladly in Costa Rica at a stately hotel that Maria paid in full for. Section XIII had been ruthless in their vampire hunting, to the point that the remaining vampires had all gone into hiding in the Rainforest, on mountains, and other inhospitable places in order to escape them. This meant that they had little material wealth and, for many, it was their first time in centuries coming to somewhere so decadent.

When they heard that Maria had struck a deal with the Vatican and that they would be hunted no more, everyone rejoiced. She was quick to add that this didn't mean they could begin doing whatever they pleased, though. The bargain was that she would kill vampires in place of the Vatican, so if a vampire did something against the codes laid out in her legislature, the punishment would be severe.

The covens of South America were so happy to be free from the church's oppressive reign that they immediately folded to her, though they did request a few alterations to the legislature which she considered and approved. Head gerents for several regions were named and a bi-monthly meeting with Maria was scheduled.

She returned from Costa Rica late at night and wrote out an exhaustive mission report for Sir Integra before slinking into Alucard's coffin. Though she was tired to the bone from the exertion of crossing the ocean, she eluded sleep until she felt the familiar prick at her neck that signaled Alucard's daily coming.

 _South America is ours,_ she told him elatedly. _The Vatican has relinquished control over all vampires there to the Hellsing Organization, and to me. Our kingdom is growing._

His voice was a faint whisper, a cool breeze along meadow grasses. _I expect nothing less of my queen._

 _Come back to me soon. I don't like sleeping in your coffin all alone._

 _Have patience._

And he was gone, but Maria's smile remained. He was still there, fighting his way back to her and the living world, and she would wait as long as it took.

* * *

Weeks turned into months that turned into years, sipped and swallowed down by Maria's duties to Hellsing and her role as ruler of an expanding empire. The covens of Australia had agreed to follow her easily. It had taken many of the Eastern Asian countries over a decade to come around, as neither Hellsing nor the Vatican had any influence there and she was starting from scratch. Europe had been hit or miss, as had Africa, no thanks to the vampiric Ottoman Empire.

The first thing Alucard had done upon joining the night was amass an army of undead souls and slaughter the sultan as well as every last one of his men. After that, he had largely retired into the shadows but never failed to reappear when he thought they were getting too powerful again. Like a snake lying in wait for its prey he rose and struck whenever they came too close. He had continued this until he had been captured by Van Hellsing, but during his period of servitude the vampires of those regions, the old ones who still remembered the days of his terrorism and savagery, formed alliances with the covens of nearly all of the old empire and also branched out deeper into Africa and the Middle East.

Maria had been embroiled in heated correspondence and negotiations between them for the past thirty years and was still no closer to forming an agreement with them. She was, however, only one more disgustingly polite roundabout letter away from declaring war, Sir Hellsing's orders and Alucard's wishes be damned. The Ottoman Empire seemed to be playing the long game—they knew that Alucard wasn't back yet and that Maria's lifespan was short. They would wait until she died and then swoop in to take what she had claimed. This was why they were content to send her letters two or three times a year making ludicrous demands they both knew she would never acquiesce to.

These past thirty years were gone in the blink of an eye it seemed to Maria. One night she was sixteen and flying around the world to create a new society of the Night, and in the next she was nearly fifty-years old and always tired. It was an exhaustion more complete than anything she had ever experienced. At first she had chalked it up to the fact that Alucard was still leeching blood and rest from her each morning, but her master had warned her that it was likely the toll of having so much inhuman power caged within a body never made to endure the strain for so long. The ritual to become his bride was only meant to take five years—hers had now been going on for six times that long.

There were some who doubted Alucard and whether he would actually return or not. It had been the cause of a couple insurrections Maria had had to quell singlehandedly. Certainly, three decades was a long time to be gone to a human, and even to a vampire it was enough time to begin to doubt. It didn't help matters that while Maria's strength was no longer doubted by anyone, her hair was graying and her face had a new wrinkle every year. For all her power, she was still vulnerable to the ravages of time. Would she succumb to it before Alucard could return and turn her?

Even Seras and Sir Integra had begun to worry about the vampire, despite Maria's assurances. It was true that he still hadn't come back in the flesh, but the blue flame of his consciousness that flickered in the furthest recesses of her mind had grown substantially over time, to the point that it had nearly returned to the same icy tendril that his connection with her had once been before he vanished. He still fed upon her each morning and if she wasn't too tired, she would force herself to stay awake until she felt the prick of his fangs against her neck. They would talk for a few moments, and his voice sounded both stronger and nearer than before. Though it had been more than a quarter of a century, not once had she given up hope that he would fight his way back to her in time. He was the No-Life King: there was nothing he couldn't do if he desired.

Maria was in the middle of her bi-monthly meeting with the UK covens when three vampires appeared from the shadows, their milk chocolate skin, red eyes, and turbans giving them away as the Empire's messengers.

"My Lady," the one in the middle interrupted her, strolling casually into the circle of chairs oblivious to the indignant and surprised faces of the people around her. "A letter from His Majesty Rajah. It is most urgent." They all knelt down before her as the speaker held out a scroll of parchment to her.

Maria glowered down at them. "So urgent you had to interrupt my meeting? You are before a Queen. Remove your turbans."

The three kept their eyes trained on the floor and the one in the middle said, "My humblest apologies, my Lady, but we are only to remove our turbans before a King or Queen recognized by His Majesty."

"Oh, he'll recognize me," she snarled, and in the blink of an eye she had procured wooden stakes and jabbed them through the tops of their black turbans, piercing their skulls and killing them before they could even begin to cry for mercy. She then procured a bit of her own paper and wrote, "So they never misplace their beloved turbans" before she tossed the letter on their corpses. Her familiar appeared and with an amused smirk picked up the bodies and letter to deliver to the Rajah.

"Y-your Majesty," LaSalle said hesitantly as he took in her furious countenance, "was it wise to react in such a bold way?"

Maria was absolutely unmoved as she unfurled the Rajah's letter. "It's exactly as Alucard would have done, and I tire of their disrespect. If they want a war, let them have it. I will grind their bones to dust like I have all the rest who opposed me."

"It's true that you defeated would be rebels several times, but at the most they only numbered a couple hundred. The Ottoman Empire is thousands strong. You can't—"

"Silence," she commanded, and though her eyes were still emerald they were just as cold as her King's. LaSalle immediately heeded her, though his creased brow continued to voice his concern. Over the years he and the other main gerents had become her close advisors, and LaSalle she had come to count even as a friend. She valued his opinion, but right now all she could think of was how delightful the Rajah's blood would look on her blade. She was sick of the Ottoman's blatant disrespect, she was sick of the looks the vampires gave her of pity and worry as they watched her age, she was sick of carrying the burden of the crown alone.

The letter was merely an autumn greeting. "I hope that this letter finds you in good health and good spirits. As the leaves begin to wither and fall and cold seizes the land, please take good care of yourself." Scowling, she allowed her shadows to creep up her hand and devour the paper like flames. It was always some thinly veiled jab at her weak human status.

"Anyways," she said, forcing a bright smile on her face, "let us return to business. How are we coming along with acquirements?"

The rest of the vampires made the transition from acts of war to every day matters gracefully, and LaSalle answered, "Quite well. With the arrival of Mr. Scott and Ms. Adabwe we've acquired two more estates in the UK since our last meeting two months ago, and thanks to the work of the three Lancet sisters we've gained three estates in South America."

"Acquirements" was the term they used to refer to strengthening their foothold and increasing assets by buying land and business. Any empire undead or otherwise needed capital, and while many of the older vampires still had an ample amount of money and land, the newer ones were hit and miss. The recently departed rich among them couldn't exactly turn around and buy their old estates, and therefore Maria requested that they instead move to underdeveloped regions within their holdings and buy land there. There they could also invest in businesses, plantations, and stocks, and thanks to this they all enjoyed a reasonable amount of wealth. While Maria didn't impose taxes for herself on her people, she did demand a humble sum from each wealthy vampire that became the fund for relocating fledglings. Not too bad at all for a brand new world-wide society.

"That's good to hear. And what is the situation with Stuart's coven?" Stuart, who had until a week ago been part of the UK covens, had defected along with several of his fledglings. They didn't like serving a human master and didn't believe that Alucard would ever return. Maria had instructed LaSalle to negotiate with them for a week, and if they still couldn't see reason she would have no choice but to purge them.

LaSalle frowned. "I was able to persuade two of his fledglings to return into our folds, but the other four remain stubborn."

"I see," Maria sighed. "It's a shame, too. I liked Stuart. Had a good fire inside him. I'll handle them after we conclude this meeting, then."

Though many of the gerents before her knew Stuart and were close with him, no one showed any displeasure with her decision. The laws were clear—if you left the flock you would only become prey. The gerents among her all trusted her and believed that Alucard would come back as well. She had no need to worry about mutiny.

There were a couple more matters to attend to, and once they were finished she thanked everyone for coming and they vanished until it was only her and LaSalle. She had known that he would hang back to press her for more about the Ottomans.

"Maria, my dear," he said kindly, "I couldn't help but notice that you've been more aggravated as of late. Is everything alright?"

In front of the others he was always sure to maintain proper decorum and refer to her as "my Lady" or "queen," but when it was just the two of them she didn't mind if he dropped the formalities. LaSalle had been around for many, many moons, and she trusted his advice explicitly. He was the first one she had confided Alucard's unknown return date to nearly a decade ago, and while many vampires within her empire would have literally ripped her apart upon finding out, he had instead found an even deeper respect for her and had endeavored to help her even more than he already had been.

She ran her fingers through her curls that were by this point more silver than chocolate and sighed. "I don't know," she admitted. "I'm just tired. Of it all."

"You're tired now? Just wait until you're pushing five hundred."

Normally she could chuckle at his jokes, but today she could only muster a weak smile. "I need him to come back soon. I'm getting old. I'm going to sound terrible for saying this, but I had always just assumed that he would do this part and I would just sort of watch from the sidelines. He was actually a voivode back in the day, and I'm just the girl he picked."

LaSalle gave a soft laugh and patted her on the shoulder. "As always, you think too little of yourself. Alucard chose you because he knew that you would do great things, and he was right. And—now don't impale me for the slander that's about to leave my lips—but I don't think he could have united us near as well as you have. He ruled with an iron fist, and his subjects were well and truly subjugated by him. You, though—you give us a voice and you are as fair as you are reasonable.

"You've singlehandedly reunited more than half the world of vampires into a cohesive and productive society," he told her, his crimson gaze boring into her dubious emeralds. "Such a thing hasn't been seen since before the fall of the Roman Empire. And for a human to have done it, no less! It's a miracle."

"Only man can defeat a monster," Maria quipped, and LaSalle grinned. "But in all seriousness, I'm 46 this year. Officially more than half of my human life is over. And recently I haven't been feeling so well. No matter how much I drink I'm still thirsty. No matter how much I sleep I'm still exhausted. I'm slipping. I can feel it. I—I'm not sure how much longer I have."

The wrinkles in LaSalle's face deepened as he frowned in concern. "The longer you wait, the more likely Alucard is to return. Hold out a while longer."

Maria nodded, and her smile turned genuine. "Thank you. I suppose I'll head off to take care of the Stuart business."

"Ah, hold on a second." His cool hand was on her arm, holding her in place. His eyes were still warm, but there was also a seriousness within them. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were trying to avoid the little matter of three murdered Ottoman emissaries."

She gave an easy chuckle. "There's no sneaking anything past you. Don't worry about it. The Rajah knows I kill any vampire he sends to me. Tonight's make forty-seven."

"And he allows it?" He couldn't believe it.

"We're both engaged in a ridiculously childish pissing match until Alucard comes back," Maria explained in a groan. "They're not interested in fighting us unless Alucard is here, and Alucard would never forgive me if I denied him the chance to kill them himself. There's nothing he loves more than massacring the Turks, you know."

"You're flirting with disaster, my Lady," he warned her.

"Yes, well I've got to have some fun," she grinned, and with that her shadows enveloped her and swept her off to the renegade coven in a fine manor in Wales.

There was nothing more cathartic than the sound of her blade sinking into a body or their cries of agony until the light faded from their eyes. It was over in a matter of minutes, but she felt better the moment she heaved her beloved great sword through the last vampire's head to cut him in twain. Her white dress was bloodsoaked, as was her face and long curls, but she liked it better that way. As her shadows carried their souls to her and she drew them in, she felt reaffirmed. She was tired, but she could keep fighting until Alucard returned to her.

Maria finished up her business with the Stuart coven just before sunrise and returned to Hellsing headquarters to pen a report for Sir Integra. Before turning in the report she popped into the kitchens to drink down several packets of medical blood. She was burning through them these past few months, drinking as much as fifteen or twenty in a night and still craving more. The only thing that kept her from sating herself fully was the knowledge that it wasn't normal, and she still remembered Alucard's warning from long ago. "Vampires are creatures of vice. It is our greatest weakness."

Two servants came in presently to prepare for breakfast, a couple young girls who shrieked at the sight of the resident freak covered head to foot in blood and drinking more, her sword still sheathed on her back. Maria gave them a fanged grin and wave in greeting but they were already backpedaling and running from the room.

She laughed and continued drinking. Some things would never change even with time, it seemed. She had done a good job of sharing only her sweet, loving human side to all the politicians and people instrumental to her overarching plan, and she had made especially sure to show the covens of the world her more monstrous side. These groups had little issue with her, but the people who saw her every day—the soldiers and servants—couldn't seem to decide which she was.

Over the years she had realized that humans could only see in binary. Things either were or weren't, and they couldn't reconcile something that didn't fit neatly in its prescribed box. Was she the helpful woman with an angel's sweet smile, or was she a monster in flux, a woman who had sold her soul to the devil and was plummeting to Hell before their eyes? Best not get close, lest she drag them down with her. Any soldier who had gone on a mission with her knew of both her sides and tales spread like wildfire. She had saved the men from a werewolf ambush, and she had laughed madly as she ripped out the beasts' hearts with her bare hands. Though it was rare that a human managed to get under her skin, they all knew how ghastly her face became and how the temperature dropped several degrees when her anger reared its head.

Pip and Seras had maintained their affability over the years. They were both so goofy and easy-going it was easy to forget they were actually quite powerful vampires. Bernadotte still led his men with the same camaraderie and respect he always had, even if the new recruits were taken aback by his red eyes and fangs at first. It had taken her a couple years, but Seras had slid into her new role of Sir Integra's right hand man. She had become the rock that held all of the men together, tending to everyone with a timeliness that was truly uncanny. Maria had long suspected that the draculina was reading everyone's minds to anticipate their needs, but she always denied it when asked.

Seras and Pip had gotten over their row over his last words as a human, but there had been many, many more feuds since then. They were always at each other's throats, and some nights it was in a good way and in others it was so bad Maria wondered if she shouldn't step in lest someone lose a limb. They were the kind of couple whose passion spilled into every facet of their lives, making their love twice as deep but also their arguments twice as brutal.

"What's the ma—merde, ma moitie, would you stop scaring the staff?"

The captain had phased into the kitchen looking tired and alarmed—it appeared as though the staff had woken him up to tell them Maria was blood-stained and smiling in a communal area.

"Bonjour to you too," she grinned, tipping the half-empty blood packet to him in cheers.

"What are you doing here all covered in blood? Whose is that, anyways?"

"Had a small renegade coven to take care of," she explained, and with a wave her shadows absorbed all of the blood to leave her pristine. "Better?"

"Yeah, thanks," he said, giving her an irritated scowl. There was nothing he disliked more than being awoken when he was curled up with Seras. He took a blood packet out of the fridge and leaned against the counter beside her as he sipped on it languidly. His question wasn't out of frustration but of curiosity. "In front of the dignitaries and politicians you're all rainbows and kittens—why can't you do the same in front of our men?"

She said simply, "The moment I step outside I've got to bust my ass to fit into the mold for each occasion. Be a perfect lady for the Round Table and the President and whoever else I have to suck up to. Be Alucard's bride and a monster to be for the gerents. Must I keep pretending when I'm in my own home too?"

Pip shrugged his shoulders, though she saw understanding pass through his visible eye. Even though he had gained the ability to regenerate body parts and therefore fix his lost eye, he said he prefered the eyepatch and kept it on anyways.

"I'm just saying, there's no need to come in here drenched in blood when you can take care of it easily," he stressed, "especially if it means Seras and I get woken up by two squealing girls."

"Sorry," she said honestly. "I won't do it again."

"Pas de probleme," was his easy reply. He tossed the empty packet in the trash and watched as Maria began drinking her eighth. "How are you feeling?"

"Y'know. Good for a middle-aged woman, I suppose," she said noncommittally.

He noted, "You're still drinking a lot."

"Yeah."

"You think it's Alucard?"

"I don't know. At this point I hope it is, because if it's me then we're going to have a big problem on our hands. I've got no business craving this much."

"Well, let's deal with it when it becomes a problem," Pip said, yawning and stretching his arms above his head. "I'm back to bed. Don't stay up too late, now. You need your rest, old lady."

"I'll kill you in your sleep," she hissed, though there was no bite to her words.

He knew this and just waved goodnight as he phased back to Seras' chambers.

Maria finished a couple more packets of blood and disposed of them before heading up to Sir Integra's office to deliver her report. She knocked on the door and at her master's voice she entered.

Sir Integra had aged gracefully in the past three decades, perhaps more so than Maria due in part to her flaxen locks hiding the ever-increasing silver fairly well. The lines on her face along with the leather eye-patch and a low voice made more gravelly by cigars made her even more intimidating than before. She was tougher than nails, and though she was ten years Maria's senior she was still as spry as could be.

"Maria, good morning," she greeted brusquely. "I heard there was a commotion in the kitchens."

"Ah, yes. My apologies."

Sir Integra leveled her with an imperious gaze. "Do I need to formally order you not to scare the help?"

"No. Captain Bernadotte already had a word with me. It's just a bit amusing to watch them scurry away sometimes."

Her master continued giving her an unamused stare as she held out her hand for the report under Maria's arm. She put on a monocle to read Maria's neat but small print.

"So LaSalle couldn't manage to get the Wales coven to come around. Shame, that."

"Yes, it was unfortunate. This makes the second would-be rebellion this year."

"Better than last year by two, then."

"Mm, for now. There's still another three months left to this year though," Maria said with a small smile.

"True, true." She took in Maria's dark circles and overall haggard appearance. "Take tonight off. Get some rest."

"Is that an order? Because I've got a gala for the RAF to attend tonight that I'd hate to miss."

"Oh, right. I had forgotten. Attend the gala, but I don't want you doing anything else. You're running yourself ragged. How many blood packets did you consume today?"

Maria hesitated before answering. "Twenty-six."

"And was it enough?"

The brunette shook her head as she stared at the floor.

"Maria, you can't starve yourself," Sir Integra ground out. "Why don't you drink until you are satisfied?"

"Because it's not natural to crave this much. Until a couple months ago I was fine drinking less than ten, but now I think I've nearly tripled if not quadrupled. What if… What if my body is beginning to reject his powers? I mean, this ritual has gone on so much longer than it was supposed to and it's been so long since I've had any of his blood..."

"Or what if Alucard is making one last push to get back and simply needs more energy? You can't distinguish your hunger from his. Drink until you're no longer thirsty and then get some rest. That's an order."

"Yes, master," Maria said with a bow and left the room to return to the kitchens. The two young cooks from before were there chatting with each other and she made sure to walk in through the doors rather than using her shadows and further alarm them. She offered them an apology for frightening them which they nodded nervously to, took some more blood from the fridge, and then returned to Alucard's chambers.

She didn't want to move his precious coffin into her own room, so she had made them more or less into her own. Seras had seen that proper lighting was installed overhead and a fine rug had been placed beneath her table to keep the cold stone from chilling her feet too much. Alucard's chair still sat at the head of the table patiently awaiting his return, and Maria put her chair beside it.

Heaving a tired sigh she sat down in her chair and tore open packet after packet until finally the itch in her throat had faded. It had taken another twelve to satisfy her, and she felt worry as she took in the pile of empty plastic pouches. What did it mean?

She was too exhausted to ponder anymore. Yawning, she strode through the wall and into her old chambers to change into her pajamas before getting to Alucard's coffin. Suflețel appeared in her arms and grew to a large panther she could wrap her arms around. After all these years Maria still longed for Alucard's cool touch, but she had learned to make due with her familiar's fiery heat.

Reaching out to the blue fireball of his presence in her mind, Maria whispered, _Hurry back. I'm tired._

* * *

 **A/N:** And so closes chapter 20. Alucard sure is taking his sweet time while Maria is busting her ass and getting old. I had a lot of fun creating this concept of the world post Millennium. I had always wondered how Hellsing, the Vatican, and the other governments managed to rebuild. There's also the fact that the public must, without a doubt, know about the existence of vampires. What do you think? Is the world I created reasonably plausible? I'd appreciate your input. Thanks for reading, as always. Review, follow, favorite, maybe check out my other story on my profile? :)


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N:** Y'all buckled in? Ready to roll? Here ya go. :D

* * *

The gala the following night was the usual drivel that Maria had no desire to partake in, but it was a necessary means of networking and so she dressed in a fine white silk dress that flowed to the floor and hugged her curves in all the right places. With her elegant updo and fine dusting of makeup she looked like a refined member of nobility. She pulled on a stray silver curl so that it uncoiled and watched it spring back up. There were faint lines on her forehead, crow's feet had appeared overnight some time ago, and her features had softened slightly over the years. When she gave a warm smile she looked like the world's most caring mother. The humans that she worked hard to show only this side to were automatically disarmed by her kind smile and warm, wise emerald eyes. Absently she wondered what Alucard would think of these changes when he saw her. Would he like what he saw?

Everything about the gala was standard, from the food to the music to the "Still no husband?" conversation. Only the members of the Round Table and the Queen knew that she was betrothed to Alucard, which meant that she had become the master of polite and sly refusals of suitors overtime. She spent the evening chatting with all of the upper echelons of the British government as well as the other foreign politicians that had made an appearance and felt that she had been reasonably successful in creating a few more ties. The party carried on until midnight and then everyone trickled out of the estate back to their homes, and Maria got into a black Hellsing car to return.

Upon entering Alucard's chambers her eyes fell upon three letters neatly stacked on the table. No doubt correspondence from the gerents that needed to be replied to tonight. Letting her mid-back length curls fall from their updo, she took a seat and began reading them. No emergencies, just notices of new acquirements in Canada and China, as well as a request for sentencing a vampire in Colombia who had killed a child. She replied to them all and then sent Suflețel to deliver them. Seras had been thoughtful enough to place a large chilled tray of medical blood on the table and she drank until the burn in her throat subsided. She should have changed out of the dress, as it was incredibly expensive, but she was just too drowsy to care so she got into Alucard's coffin as she was. She was asleep within a minute, drifting off into a cool and blank darkness.

She awoke suddenly as she felt the presence of someone touching the lacquered lid of the coffin. This wooden confinement had become just as precious to her as it was to Alucard over the years, and she had become acutely aware of anytime someone neared it. There wasn't a soul in headquarters who didn't know touching the coffin was forbidden. It was one of the first rules Sir Integra laid out for recruits. The only person who would dare lay fingers on it was one of her enemies—perhaps the Ottomans were through playing games?

So fast that even most gerents wouldn't have been able to react, she summoned her opal inlaid pistol, opened the coffin a crack, and fired, blasting a hole in the gut of her assailant.

"If war is what you want, I'll give it to you," she growled as she rose to her feet.

But when her eyes fell on the man slumped over and laughing on the stone floor the color drained from her face and disbelief ran cold through her.

"It's poor taste to shoot your benefactor, is it not?" Alucard chuckled, his crimson gaze twinkling as he took in her stricken expression. He still wore the exact same red trench coat and smug smirk he had always worn, but he looked more tired than she had ever seen. His hair was long and wild, and there was a simmering fire blazing in his gaze even though the lines around his eyes made his decades-long fatigue clear.

Maria could hardly believe it. Was it a dream? Or some trick conjured up by her enemies? She would personally flay and impale them all.

"Prove to me it's you," she demanded, still aiming the gun at his heart.

Amusement glinted in his eyes. "You've grown shrewd." And then his shadows were stretching along the floor and to hers. The moment they met the mental connection between them sizzled back to life like a live wire, electrifying Maria and causing her to gasp. It was as if she had been frozen and in the blink of an eye brought to boiling. His darkness and wisdom, his coldness and intent rushed back to her and it felt like she had been brought back to life.

Immediately she sank to her knees between his legs and wrapped her arms around him, pressing a desperate kiss to his lips.

 _You came back,_ she said stupidly, laughing as she felt his cool hands on her back pressing her to him.

 _I told you I would,_ he said. _Let me see you._

Reluctantly she pulled away from him and sat up, nervously tucking a silvered lock behind her ear. He swiftly undid the action, his ungloved fingers dancing through her hair and caressing her cheek.

"Your hair has grayed," he noted.

"No thanks to you," she frowned. "Resting and drinking for two for thirty years on top of establishing a kingdom alone is hell."

His fingertips brushed over her brow and the corners of her eyes. "And you've got wrinkles."

She reminded him, "I'm almost fifty."

He nodded. "I didn't think I'd get a chance to see this version of you."

"Me neither," she admitted, and then asked him, "Do you like it?"

"Don't ask stupid questions," he ordered, but his crimson eyes were the softest she'd ever seen them and he couldn't seem to take his hands off her.

"You're free from the Hellsing spell," she realized as she took in his gloveless hands.

"For now. Master will cast it again tomorrow. I've been informed that you stole it right after I vanished."

"More like it attached to me like a leech. But it was a good thing—I couldn't control the souls I absorbed."

One of Alucard's eyebrows raised in intrigue. "Absorbed?"

"It seems that I've gained your ability," she smiled smugly, indulging in running her fingers through his inky locks. "I've been building an empire and an army in your absence, my King."

"How many?"

"I took in all those you left behind during the Blitz, and ever since then I've been adding to it with each mission and each idiot vampire who thinks they can rebel against us. Currently I have about two and a half million. Eighty percent of them are humans, but the other twenty are a mixture of vampires, werewolves, banshees, djinns, and other miscellaneous beasts. Master says I'm becoming a hoarder."

Alucard gave a dark laugh, positively delighted with her. "And our kingdom?"

"Is growing ever larger and stronger," she assured him with a proud grin. "We have territory on every continent and the Vatican was even kind enough to relinquish all vampire-related duties to me in their holdings. We're currently in the process of increasing numbers and wealth. The only areas we don't own are those controlled by the Ottoman Empire. I've been waiting to slaughter them until you're back."

He hissed in elation at this news. Another chance to massacre the Turks was the best gift he could be given and Maria knew this. He cupped her cheek as he said softly, "You've surpassed my every expectation to become a true Queen of the Night. I wish I could have watched your ascension."

Ecstatic with his praise, she gave him a soft but earnest kiss of thanks. "I'm not an official queen until the king is by my side. We'll ascend together."

Alucard surged upon her at those words, like a tsunami plundering shores he ravaged her with his tongue, teeth, and hands. Maria threw herself into the wild embrace, moaning as he pressed his full weight down upon her and continued to ravish her. Their clothes melted off them and she wasn't sure who had done it, but she didn't care as his body slid against hers in ways she had fantasized a thousand times these past three decades. After all these years, he still managed to make her heart race and her temperature rise at the slightest touch. Already she thought she would combust.

When he sank his fangs deep into her neck she let out a cry of pleasure and dug her nails into his back as he began to drink. She felt his cock twitch longingly against her heat and he hissed in her mind, _Just as delicious as the first night I drank from you._

"Flatterer," she accused with a smile as she grabbed his firm ass to press his manhood to her most sensitive and longing area. He groaned at her throat and ground his hips against hers animalistically. "When will we finally finish the ritual? You've kept me waiting six times longer than I should have."

He broke away from her neck to stare at her with lust-hazed eyes. "I was to have four and a half more years of you as a human by my side."

"You had sixteen whole years before that," she argued, glaring indignantly up at him. "I'm old, Alucard. Don't make me wait until I'm fifty."

"I was forty-eight."

"Then I'll wait until I'm forty-eight so long as war doesn't break out with the Ottomans and so long as you change how you look." When he grew bemused by her last demand, she added, "I'm not going to look like some cougar with a hot young boytoy beside me as we govern, even if it is brief. It's unseemly. I want you to look my age."

He digested her words for a brief second before his features changed. His black hair grew into long, coarse curls and a well-trimmed beard and moustache sprouted along with a patch of black curls on his muscled chest. She gasped in delight when she realized that it was the same man she had seen the first night of his absence within the dream, only his eyes were no longer the captivating ice blue they had been on the battlefield.

"Is this what you had in mind?" he asked, and she thought she could detect a slight hint of a Romanian lilt in his words.

"Yes," she breathed as she felt his beard, "yes, it's perfect. Do we have a deal?"

"You've given me an offer that has no benefits to me," he pointed out. "Why would I agree to it?"

Her shadows entwined around his arms and rolled him over so she was on top of him on the stone floor. She gave him a kiss as teasing as it was brutal before saying softly against his lips, "I would like to remind you that I have dedicated my entire life to you and spent these past three decades single-handedly building an empire the likes of which haven't been seen since before the fall of Rome. I think I am entitled to one selfish demand."

After a moment's deliberation he said, "Very well, I agree to your terms. You've become even more silver-tongued, I see."

"Wars are fought with words in this century," she smirked, "and I haven't lost a battle yet. Now please tell me you'll let me have a drink. I've missed your taste nearly as much as I've missed your voice."

Alucard gave her a fanged grin and his broad, calloused hands gripped her waist tightly as he bared his throat to her. "Bea," he commanded.

"Mulțumesc," she thanked and lovingly kissed the smoothe column of his throat before biting into it with her fangs. His blood was even more unbearably delicious and rich than she remembered, and though it still had the same taste of spice and power it also had a strange new undertone she couldn't pin down because it kept changing ever so slightly. It didn't matter, though—it was undeniably her king's blood and at long, long last they were completely reunited.

Though she could have easily drank all the blood he had, Maria was aware that he wasn't back to his full strength yet and relented. She pulled away from his neck and they shared a kiss that was full of both yearning and satisfaction.

"Come. We'll sleep until we are both rejuvenated," he told her, rising to his feet.

Maria gave a wry laugh as she stood and followed him to his coffin a few paces away. "If I follow that order I'll be asleep for the next century."

"Then so be it."

They got into his coffin together and Maria's emerald eyes grew wide as it magically grew in width to accommodate the two of them so that she could take up her old sleeping position with her head in the crook of his shoulder as his arm wrapped around her. His long curls tickled her nose, but she liked it. She rested a hand on his strong chest and let out a relieved sigh.

"You'll be here when I wake up," she checked.

"Yes."

"Because if I wake up and this has been a dream," she warned, "I'll lay waste to a small country."

He chuckled. "I have missed your melodrama, if only slightly."

Maria pressed a kiss to his chest before whispering cheekily, "You've missed more than that. You wanted to make me wait five more years so you can sleep beside my warm body and hear my heartbeat a little while longer."

His eyes slid open to shoot her a testy glare. "What can I say?" he said silkily, "I find you most tolerable when you aren't talking."

She giggled then, full and long. She had never felt so joyous in her entire life, and everything was right now that he was back at her side.

* * *

They awoke the following morning so that Sir Integra could cast the binding spell on Alucard once more, and then they immediately returned to his coffin to sleep again. Maria managed to sleep for a solid four days, and this time she felt more alive than she had felt in years. She took a few moments to memorize his sleeping form beside her, scarcely believing that he had finally returned to her. He was a statue, perfect in every way imaginable. Reluctant to leave his arms but knowing she had already neglected her duties for far too long, she carefully disentangled herself from him and slid out of the coffin.

Just as she was closing the lid a hand shot out to grip her wrist. _Where are you going?_ he demanded.

 _I've been asleep for four days and the world hasn't stopped turning. I have to return to work._

 _Forget your duties and return to me._

Maria really, really wanted to obey him, but knew that she couldn't afford to sleep another night away. _I'm sorry. I'll join you in the morning._

 _Relegate your tasks to a servant,_ he ordered, his grip tightening on her wrist.

"I have no servants," she informed him. "When I said 'single-handedly,' I meant it. I had to prove to all of these vampires that a human could rule them, and relying on someone else for anything would have undermined that."

His grip softened before he released her. _Go, then. But return at sunrise._

 _I'll do my best,_ she promised, and then closed the lid gently.

It was already half-past six and she was running late. A heap of letters were stacked up on the table for her and she picked them up before heading to her chambers to shower and dress in a white cashmere sweater dress. She was pleased to look in the mirror and see that Alucard's presence had brought back some of her youth already. Her permanent dark circles were gone and she seemed to be practically glowing with vigor. It might have been her imagination, but her wrinkles seemed slightly less obvious and her hair browner. She easily looked five years younger than before.

Her familiar appeared at her feet as a kitten and meowed up at her. Delighted, she picked up her friend and squeezed her tight.

"Suflețel, he's back!" she cried.

The kitten stared up at her with an unamused expression as if to say, _I'm aware._

"Oh, don't be such a sourpuss," Maria laughed, and her familiar glared at the terrible pun. "Eventually you two are going to have to get along."

Suflețel continued looking sullen and Maria put her back on the floor. She swept her curls up and donned her crown, unable to stop from beaming. Once satisfied, she read through all of the correspondence, wrote the necessary replies, and then had her other newer familiar, Puișor, deliver them. Of course Suflețel was capable of relaying messages for her, but travelling the world took even the powerful hellcat a decent amount of time. A couple decades ago when she had been ambushed and almost fatally wounded by one of the Ottoman's djinns while Suflețel was away, she had realized that she needed a familiar to specialize as her courier and another as her protector. As such, she had asked Suflețel to bring something suitable to her and she hadn't been disappointed when she brought a great black eagle back with her. The massive bird was made of black shadow just as Suflețel was, and its eyes were the same piercing red jewels of all familiars.

Truly ready to begin her night, Maria phased up to the kitchens to grab a couple packets to drink and then headed to Sir Integra's office.

"So he hasn't turned you," her master remarked as Maria walked in, looking mildly surprised.

"He wanted to wait another five years, but I talked him down to two."

"I thought that would have been his first order of business."

Maria laughed. "Afraid not. My apologies for taking time off so abruptly. Will you have need of my services tonight?"

"No. I imagine you need to catch up on your own affairs first. Tomorrow afternoon there will be a Round Table Conference I expect you present for, however."

Maria bowed. "Understood. I have a small matter to take care of in Columbia tonight but I will make sure to be back in time."

"Oh?"

"As per our contracts with the Vatican I am required to exterminate all law-breaking vampires myself," Maria explained with a fanged grin.

Sir Integra rolled her eyes at the brunette's enthusiasm and waved her away. "Well get a move on, then."

Maria bowed once more as Suflețel appeared as a great shadowy beast behind her. She sat sidesaddle on her familiar and allowed it to whisk her away to the Colombian coven headquarters, a grand old opera house that they had renovated and used as a meeting space, temporary lodging, and dungeon. She appeared in her private chambers there that featured a fine king sized bed, gunmetal gray curtains that kept out even the smallest ray of sunlight, and finely carved wooden furniture.

Upon exiting the room with her kitten on her shoulder, she was immediately greeted by two vampires in the hallway. They took off their hats and bowed deeply to her.

"At ease," she smiled. "I've come for Diego."

"I will take you to him," one of the vampires offered and led her down to the basement where twenty prison cells had been carved out of the bedrock at Maria's order. The bars were blessed silver, meaning no vampire would be able to break them or phase through them. At the far end of the narrow stone corridor was Maria's favorite room—the flaying chambers.

"We thought you would be coming a few nights ago—our humblest apologies for the mistake—so we've had him hanging here since then."

"No, please don't apologize," Maria said. "It was my intention to come four nights ago but I had a more pressing matter arise. I should have notified you. But keeping him hanging was good."

Past the wooden door was a medium-sized circular room. Along the walls were various weapons and tools, and near the door was a neat stack of wooden pikes. In the center was a simple pulley system and suspended from its rope was none other than the errant vampire by a silver hook through his lower jaw. His hands and legs had been bound with rope and his blood steadily let in order to keep him too weak to escape.

Upon seeing his queen the vampire began to squirm and writhe against his bindings. All members of Maria's kingdom knew the punishment for serious crimes, as there was only one: flaying followed by impalement at sunset.

She thanked her guide and bade him leave before strolling up to the criminal hanging before her like a carcass at a meat plant. Her tone was light and eyes bright as she looked up at him. "Diego Riveras, for the crime of killing a human child I hereby formally commence your execution. Do you have any final words?"

He tried to say something, but his tongue couldn't get around the hook in his mouth.

Maria donned her thick leather gloves and took her blessed filleting knife into her hand. "I wasn't all that interested in hearing them anyways," she shrugged, and then her shadows pulled the chain down so his toes could just touch the stone floor. They then wrapped around his arms and legs so that when she cut the binding ropes he wouldn't be able to move, though he made a valiant attempt.

She traced a gloved finger around the red and puckering flesh around the hook and then slid a finger inside the hole, causing him to shriek in agony.

Maria just giggled and whispered in his ear, "I'm going to start with your scalp and end at your toes."

And she did just that, humming and smiling as she slowly but surely peeled his flesh away. She had promised Alucard all those years ago that she would practice, and she had nearly perfected her technique in his absence. She had come to view it as an artform, really. There was something so relaxing about carving the skin from these degenerates' bodies, to strip away their imagined shells of beauty and invulnerability to reveal their frail, quivering cores.

Their screams had a nice ring to them, as well. The Colombian flaying room in particular had a lovely ambience.

Several hours later Maria stepped back and held out the vampire's pound of flesh for him to examine, though he was too busy moaning in agony to truly appreciate it.

"Not bad, not bad," she commented to herself as she took in the perfect suit of skin in her hand. She tossed it to the floor and then traced the tip of the blessed blade down his cheek, neck and chest, and his squeals grew louder as the bare muscles smoked and burned at the contact. "Now it's time for the final phase."

She wiped the blade clean and put it back on the table with the others, along with her gloves before grabbing one long pike in one hand and tossing the vampire over her other shoulder.

Her shadows swallowed them up and spat them back out on a desolate Andean peak before a beautiful pyramid of black andesite that reached up to touch the sky. The sun was setting to the west, painting the sky in hues of deep indigo and violet. This Inca temple was to the moon goddess Mama Killi and had been protected by Incan vampires since its construction nearly six hundred years ago, which explained its pristine condition. Maria was the first human ever permitted to enter this hallowed ground and it was here that all executions took place, from the tallest mountain so that gods and vampires alike could behold it and tremble.

Two vampires in long black hooded robes that obscured their faces materialized before the pyramid and genuflected before her.

"My Queen, it is an honor," the two women said in unison.

"Thank you. Please rise. It's going to be a lovely moon tonight."

"Indeed," one of them hissed, and Maria could see the glint of a fanged smile beneath the hood. "Mama Killi will be pleased by this offering."

"I hope so," Maria said, and then began making the trek up the endless tiers of the pyramid as the vampire in her arms sobbed pathetically.

Frankly, Maria wasn't sure that she believed in Mama Killi or any other deity. She had spent her entire life with the supernatural, and yet she had never met a god. She knew that a place called Hell existed, which meant that there was probably a Heaven as well, but exactly whose afterlife it was she couldn't say. In the meantime, she planned to respect the deities of her people as best she could.

The two priestesses followed behind her in silence. At first they had insisted on carrying the pike and criminals, but Maria had denied them. She had made it clear from the start that it was she and Alucard who would handle all executions, and so she took care of every aspect from start to finish.

The peak of the pyramid was a flat plateau with a raised stone dais and along the edges of the plateau were enough slots for a total of forty pikes. Maria chose one and inserted the fifteen-foot long pole into the hole and jiggled it to make sure it was secure. The priestesses procured a tub of fresh lard for her that she coated the pike with until it was slick and glistening.

"My advice is to relax," Maria whispered to the pathetic being slung over her shoulder, and then with practiced ease grabbed him by the neck and threw him into the air. Her shadows guided his fall, allowing him to be skewered so that the needle-sharp tip pierced through his anus and exited his mouth while avoiding his heart. His screams echoed over the peaks and Maria laughed.

She made her way to the stone altar and to the simple obsidian basin on it. Giving a polite nod of her head to it and to the Moon Goddess (if she was around), Maria slit her hand with a silver knife beside the basin and allowed it to drip in.

"Thank you for another beautiful moonrise," she whispered. "May my humble offering tonight appease you."

The cut sealed over and she gave a nod of farewell to the two priestesses, who bowed deeply in reply before she hopped on Suflețel and returned to Hellsing headquarters, where it was nearly three in the morning.

Her eagle familiar Puișor immediately swooped down through the ceiling and onto her outstretched arm, but its shadowy talons caused her no discomfort.

"Thank you for making those deliveries," she said, stroking its back with her other hand. "Do you have any news for me?"

It proffered a leg to her which suddenly had a roll of parchment tied to it. Maria took and read it quickly. A letter from the Rajah noting the barbarism of the treatment of his messengers. She crumpled it with a roll of her eyes.

Next she headed into her chambers where nearly two hundred manilla files were stacked tidily on her table. The annual reports for each orphanage in their holdings were due today and all seemed to have been turned in on time. She had never been able to forget the night she had found that little girl trembling in a wardrobe, her friends all slaughtered by a gluttonous excuse for a vampire, and Maria had vowed then and there to do what she could to help the children. Though she had caught a bit of flack from some of the gerents upon first suggesting it, she had been adamant that each country within their territories have at least one if not more human orphanages secretly funded and overseen by vampires. When it came time for Sir Integra to confer her duties to Maria and Alucard, they would need proof that they were more than just monsters and capable of doing good, and helping the less fortunate children of the world was one of the best ways to prove this.

Their orphanages offered quality care and education to the children under their supervision and while the day to day caregivers were all unsuspecting humans, the headmasters and headmistresses were all vampires capable of telepathy. They employed this talent when interviewing potential adoptive families to ensure that every child would receive a loving and safe home.

She sat down at the table and began analyzing each orphanage's reports, taking note of which were requesting permission for expansions, services, or funding, which were seeing a high rate of employee turnover, and which were enjoying high rates of adoption among other facets. She would disseminate a duplicate of these reports to each relevant gerent and highlight the areas she wanted them to address.

By the time she had completed detailing her comments and commands for each orphanage and put them in envelopes for Puișor to deliver the following evening it was nearing ten a.m. She picked up her copies of the documents and carried them into the neighboring room, which had been turned into her own records room not long after she began amassing followers. Yawning, she filed them away under this year's orphanage reports and then swiftly changed into pajamas.

"You're late," Alucard growled as she closed the coffin lid over them and curled up against him.

"Sorry. I had to go to Colombia and do some paperwork."

His hand on her hip squeezed tightly, but he was back asleep within seconds and Maria happily followed him into slumber, if only for a couple hours.

When she woke up at noon and began to open the coffin he shot her a dangerous scarlet glare. "Now what is it?"

She closed the lid and turned back to him and with a contrite look said, "I've got to go to the Round Table Conference in an hour."

"Why does Master need you as a bodyguard?"

"She doesn't. I'm a member."

His expression changed from thunderous to vaguely intrigued. "How did you manage to con your way into such a prestigious post?"

"I didn't _con_ my way into anything, thank you," she huffed. "I asserted my usefulness and reliability to the Queen and the Round Table right after the Blitz, and they were kind enough to reward me with a position. They know that I now handle all vampire-related activity outside of the UK excluding the Ottomans, and my network of vampires all around the world serves as an excellent source of intelligence for the human governments. Spying is so much easier when you can read minds, after all. In another decade I imagine I will have fully cemented their dependence on me and created an identity as a promulgator of peace."

The No-Life King ran his fingers through her curls as he said, "I never considered you a very talented strategist. You always lose when we play chess."

She frowned. "The last time we played I think I was eleven and you were reading my mind the whole time."

A smirk flitted across his lips at the memory. "Perhaps a rematch is in order."

"Yes. But before we make time for games we need to prioritize your rest and your getting up to speed on the development of our kingdom. I've made all the decisions I could on my own, but there are still about a hundred I need your input on before I can proceed. Firstly we need to decide where we want our home to be for the long term so it can be built."

"What did you have in mind?"

She kissed him briefly and apologized, "I've got to get ready or I'll be late. Sorry." His frown returned as he watched her vanish from their coffin and into her chambers to change, but she continued the conversation through their mental link. _We can choose from almost anywhere in the world, but I wondered if maybe you'd want somewhere close to home. The Rajah had plans to acquire what used to be Wallachia and build a mosque over your old castle grounds to spite us a couple decades ago, but I caught wind of it in time and purchased the land myself. So we could do something there. Or start something new._

Alucard was silent for a spell, and Maria wondered momentarily if he had dozed off. But then he said quietly, _What do you want?_

The brunette froze in surprise as she zipped up the back of her dress. It was a question she hadn't expected to fall from his lips. She gave a soft, glad laugh and answered, _I am fine with whatever you choose. I've never lived in one place long enough to become attached to it except for here, and Master has already said she plans on giving the headquarters to Seras and Pip upon her death. I don't want to live somewhere tropical, though. Too much sun._

 _Then Wallachia. I would see my castle restored._

Maria grinned as she slid on her heels. _I thought you'd decide that, so I managed to track down a blueprint of your castle some time ago. Look over it, let me know what additions or specifications you have, and I'll have construction start immediately._

She only had another ten minutes before she was to appear at the meeting in London, but it was enough for her to dash into the records room and pull out the details she had on his old castle. She placed them on the table in his chambers and then vanished to the Round Table Conference, where Sir Integra and all the others were already waiting.

Alucard's return was the hot topic of this month's meeting, which was closely followed by what this meant for Maria's humanity. All of the members of the Round Table knew that she would become a vampire and Alucard's queen upon his return and they were divided on what to do with her after she had changed. Most seemed content to allow her continued service among them, as they knew that she already had one foot in the Night and remained trustworthy. The shrewder, more cautious minority were reluctant to put their faith in a monster. She assured them that such a decision wasn't necessary at the moment.

Just as the meeting concluded and she was shaking hands with Sir Irons a coal-black macaque familiar burst through the wall and into the room, causing everyone but Sir Integra and Maria to react in terror. Maria recognized it immediately as the familiar of Yasunari Minamoto, the head gerent of Japan. It had a letter clutched in its hands and it bowed at her feet before offering it to her.

"My apologies," she said to the other members. "It's an ally." She tore open the letter hastily, as she only received this sort of unscheduled correspondence in times of emergency. As she read the hurried scrawl a frown grew on her lips. "I'm afraid I must take my leave. Until next month."

 _What's happened?_ Sir Integra asked through their connection.

 _A coup. Apparently another gerent believes he should be head gerent and has attacked the current one. I'll settle this matter swiftly._

She walked out of the room and into the hallway where the other members of the Round Table wouldn't see Suflețel appear in her monstrous form. They of course knew that she had familiars at her disposal, but she didn't like showing them anything that could remind them of the more ghastly side of her existence.

"Let's go," she whispered, and her greatsword appeared on her back as her familiar's shadows consumed them both.

In the time it took to inhale they had appeared outside the old Buddhist temple they had converted into the seat of Japanese vampiric activity hidden deep in the sprawling forest surrounding Mt. Fuji. Yells and the clang of steel meeting steel rose from within the pagoda and she and Suflețel rushed inside as she withdrew her own sword. It was chaos—head gerent Minamoto's coven of sixty-some vampires was being overrun by the second most powerful gerent Oba's coven of seventy plus. Upon seeing her enter the conflagration those of Minamoto's rejoiced while Oba's lunged at her with their katanas and familiars ready.

Maria released her binds, allowing her army of souls free reign. The rush of power that consumed her like a warm fire made her grin excitedly. These idiots would make a nice addition to her army.

She thrust her hands into the air, summoning her shadows with them and casting them out like a great net. They shot through the entire temple, automatically rooting out any of Oba's vampires and gnawing on their hearts until they ripped them out of their chests. It was all over in a matter of seconds, until the only people left were Minamoto's and Oba himself, who was fighting against Maria's shadows that held him frozen in the middle of swinging his sword toward Minamoto.

"My Queen," Minamoto bowed in reverence, "thank you for coming. You saved us all."

"No worries. You were right to inform me. Are you unharmed?"

He clutched at the deep gash in his fine burgundy kimono but said, "Nothing that won't heal after a full day's rest."

"Wonderful." She now turned to Oba, who was staring at her with the deepest loathing. "Oba, what is the meaning of this? When you and your coven joined me you swore fealty to me and our laws. Minamoto was made head gerent by a vote among all other gerents in Japan. If you wanted his position you should have contacted me so we could arrange an ordained duel between the two of you as per law."

"We only joined you because we knew that you would purge us if we didn't," Oba said bitterly. "We never wanted anything to do with you filthy foreigners in the first place. Least of all a human woman. You're not my queen."

He spat in her face, his spittle wetting her eyes and nose.

A rage instantly boiled within her with the furor of the sun and she grabbed him by the face to slam him into the ground hard enough to leave a crater.

"Normally I flay and impale dissenters," she hissed centimeters from his wide eyes, her face contorted in a hideous snarl, "but I think it best that I educate you instead. You'll spend the rest of eternity as a slave to this filthy foreign woman."

The nails of her left hand gouged into his cheeks and eyes, keeping him immobile as he flailed and struggled vainly against her. Laughing nefariously she put her other hand over his sternum and with shadow-enhanced claws carved through silk, tissue, and bone until she had wrapped her fingers around his still heart as he wailed and shrieked in agony. She ripped his heart out, tearing it away from its fetters of arteries and veins until it was free of its confines and nestled in her palm. Oba's cries died on his lips, his face frozen in a grimace.

Before the audience of Minamoto and his men Maria caressed the bloody heart tenderly before biting into it like a succulent apple, though in truth it wasn't near as delicious. The sound of tearing muscle permeated the deathly silent room as these vampires watched their queen devour the heart of her enemy until there was nothing left and she licked her fingers clean of his blood.

"Well, now," Maria said with a smile as she wiped a trickle of Oba's blood from the corner of her mouth, "it looks like this little matter has been tidied up. Is there anyone else who doesn't want to follow this filthy foreign human woman?" The sharp twinkle of malice in her emerald eyes belied the sweet grin on her lips.

Unhesitatingly every single vampire before her sank to the floor and bowed as deeply as possible so that their foreheads were pressed to the ground.

"Thank you," she said sweetly. "Please rise. No need to bow that enthusiastically next time. Minamoto, this has proven to me that you are not effectively understanding all of the covens and their intent. We should never let it get to a point where a coup is possible. Starting immediately you are to become more familiar with each coven, their vampires, and their ambitions and I want full, detailed reports sent to me about them. Is that clear?"

"Yes, my Queen," he said immediately, bowing once more.

"Alright. If there's nothing else, I will return to England."

"Thank you, my Queen," Minamoto said once more. "I'm sorry to have let you down."

With a nod she mounted Suflețel and allowed her to take her back to Hellsing headquarters, where she let out an aggravated sigh and penned an in-depth report for Sir Hellsing and herself. It was now evening and she was starving.

"I told you it was too soon to get our hopes up," Maria complained as her master read over the report in her office. "This makes the third rebellion this year."

"It's almost always in Asia," the heiress noted.

"Yes. They've been the most difficult because neither Hellsing nor Alucard had any presence there. Also, Confucianism did a lot to undermine the concept of female leadership, unfortunately."

Sir Integra's eye widened and she looked up from the report to give Maria a sharp, disgusted look. "Did you _eat_ the vampire's heart?"

"I won't have them thinking I'm some delicate human girl," she said defensively. "I needed to show them that I can be even more monstrous than them when I choose. Make them fear me and my ire."

"And did you like it?" Sir Integra was giving her that probing look that made Maria wonder if the Hellsing woman didn't possess a penchant for mind-reading as well.

"I certainly liked the way they quivered with fear as they watched," she honestly answered, "but the heart was all tough and stringy. Like eating an old, raw steak."

Sir Integra heaved a sigh and lit a cigar. "I'm too old for this. Go, leave me be."

Maria chuckled and bowed out of the room. Outside was Seras, who seemed to have been waiting for her. She hadn't changed at all in the past thirty years, even wearing the same Hellsing uniform from back then.

"Maria, welcome back," she greeted warmly. "I was hoping to talk with you for a bit."

"Sure. What's up?"

"Well, Master's finally back. How are you?"

The brunette laughed. "It feels like I'm whole again. Less tired and less thirsty now too, which is a plus. Is he still sleeping?"

Seras smiled, glad for her best friend. "He woke me up several hours ago to ask what exactly you've been doing in his absence. Like everything down to the finest detail."

"I seriously hope you didn't do that."

"Of course not," the blonde laughed. "I directed him to your mission reports. Between you and me, I think he's in a bit of shock."

"Good. After being around for as long as he has, it's beneficial to get a little jolt from time to time. So he's awake?"

"Seems to be."

Maria nodded. Thinking it best to give him time to pore over her deeds, she headed to the training grounds where she knew she would find Pip and his men and joined them in an impromptu training session.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for finishing another installment. I had initially planned to have another chapter before Alucard came back, but I just missed him so much. Haha and I also figured that no one else would want to read many chapters where the OC was main. Were you as happy as I was to see him return? Let me know what you thought about the chapter. Review, Favorite, Follow, all that jazz. And look at my original story on Fictionpress! Check my profile. :D


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N:** Hello again. Thanks for all of the reviews and follows! They make my day. I'm really happy to hear that you guys are enjoying it. I primarily wrote this for my own amusement, so I wasn't sure that others would like it.

Anyways, onto the chapter. It's time a bit of Alucard POV. So much fun to write.

* * *

Embracing the Night and becoming a vampire was much like changing from a speck of flotsam to a massive boulder in the middle of a raging river. As a human the currents of time had pulled Alucard along easily, but as a vampire he was left to watch the tides of time sweep over and by him as he remained forever stationary. The ages passed him by steadily, and he had grown comfortable with the rise and fall of civilizations that came like the seasons.

He had spent the last thirty long years ceaselessly warring with all of the souls he had absorbed over the centuries until he had once again conquered and enslaved them all, and there had been countless times he had thought he would fall from weariness. The one thing that had sustained him this entire time had been Maria, who had given her precious blood and rest freely to him.

But most importantly, she had given him a constant and profound well of encouragement. In his weakened state he had been unable to establish a proper mental link with her, but she had continued reaching out to the flicker of his being within her, caressing it and whispering her faith and devotion in his ears. Each word she uttered was a balm to him, giving him the strength to hack through another body and push forward to meet the next onslaught. She had been the moon in the eternal darkness of his heart, lighting the path to his salvation.

He had thought that upon returning to her he would feel nothing but relief that she was alive and well and back where she belonged at his side. He had been startled, therefore, when he also felt something like the cold fingers of loss wrapping around his chest. Time had made her even more beautiful with each passing day and she wore each wrinkle like a badge of honor. Her captivating emerald eyes had maintained their youthful twinkle of curiosity but also gained a steely glint of fortitude.

He found himself gripped by the regret that he had not been there to watch her transformation.

Alucard had imagined that he would return to Hellsing headquarters to find everyone a little older but otherwise unchanged. He and Maria would still go on missions killing vampires and they would begin to build their empire while Seras and the Frenchman continued their childish romance. Even in his wildest dreams he had never expected Maria to unite more than half of the vampiric world to form the most cohesive civilization in over a millennium as she built up the trust and dependence of human leaders worldwide. It was something that even he, the No-Life King, could never have hoped to achieve.

How had she done it? How had this woman tamed man and beast alike and bent them to her will as though they were all blades of grass supplicating to the wind? Though he was still exhausted, he burned to know. She had just left to attend the Round Table meeting and it was noon, but Alucard reached out to his fledgling and awoke her from her slumber.

 _Seras._

 _Yes, Master?_ she answered groggily.

 _Tell me everything Maria has done in my absence. From the beginning._

 _Oh, Master,_ she sighed, _that would take me weeks. She's detailed everything she's ever done in a great file cabinet in her records room. It's the one marked "Chronological." She's been working tirelessly for you and Sir Integra this whole time. Sir has had to order her on innumerable occasions to eat and sleep because she'll go days and weeks without it otherwise. I think she forgets that for all her power she's still human._

Alucard frowned at this. Greedily he had been sapping her blood and vitality each day when she had scarcely enough for herself. _Why didn't she eat or sleep?_

Seras answered, _She couldn't find the time. At night she deals with the covens all over the world and at day deals with the humans. And since she was your replacement Sir Integra also had her doing missions on occasion. When the monsters were something the men didn't have much experience with._

 _And you helped her,_ Alucard supposed.

 _No. Pip and I both offered, but she made it clear that she had to do it on her own. We were so worried at first when she was starting out that she'd be killed, but she proved us all wrong. By all accounts the vast majority of vampires within her kingdom respect her deeply. She's been a fair and pragmatic ruler. Vampire-related incidents are at an alltime low worldwide, which keeps the humans happy as well._

 _Why?_

He could feel her confusion. _I'm sorry. "Why" what, Master?_

Alucard wondered why she had taken it upon herself to do something he had never asked her to do. Why she had pushed herself to the absolute limits to do this all alone. He supposed Seras wouldn't know the answer even if he posed it, though, so he ordered her back to sleep and headed to this records room she had spoken of.

On his way he noticed a large parchment scroll on the table and unfurled it to see a very precise blueprint of his familial castle, correct down to the location of the fireplaces and the hidden corridor from the master bedroom to the dungeons. How had she found it? He hadn't even been aware that such records existed. Maria had added several comments in Romanian on smaller adhesive scraps of paper. Updating the kitchens, adding electricity and modern plumbing, wondering what type of stone and mortar had been used, and whether he preferred modern windows versus the hand-crafted ones. He took a few moments to marvel at the concern she had poured into this before penning his wishes beneath them.

In the records room he found not one but three massive file cabinets labeled "Chronological" and opened the first one to see a multitude of meticulously kept reports, dated and color-coded related to topic (blue for "Alliances," red for "Transgressions," green for "Outreach," purple for "Humans," orange for "Acquisitions," and yellow for "Hellsing"). Along the walls were more and more cabinets, each one labeled with the same topics. He could only assume that within those were more detailed records.

He took out the first file dated the day of the Blitz and began reading her elegant script. She must have been sharing these with Integra as well, as she had written them in English instead of Romanian. As he read further he realized that she had been filling out a daily mission report for their master every night, and this served as a diary of sorts.

Completely absorbed in her deeds, he sat down at the lone desk in the center of the room with a stack of mission reports and learned every last detail of the last thirty years of Maria's life. How she had persuaded the UK, Americas, and Australia to fall under her order swiftly using his name and a show of force. How Sir Integra had crafted an ingenious contract with the Vatican that conferred all vampire-related duties to the Hellsing Organization and specifically Maria. His bride had made remarkable strides in East Asia, an area he had considered nigh impossible to take over due to the differing cultures. But she had taken the time to learn the histories and languages of each nation, along with all of the customs unique to the Asian covens in order to better garner their respect. He could never have done something so tedious.

It was no surprise to him that the Ottoman Empire had grown back during his servitude—it was like a tumor that needed to be excised. He was delighted to see the ways she toyed with them, nailing stakes through their turbans just as he had five hundred years ago and sending the sultan the heads of his servants that she had artfully carved to resemble pigs. He was incensed by the disrespect the Ottomans showed him and his, though it wasn't unexpected. They hadn't changed anything in the past five hundred years. But perhaps with Maria by his side, they would finally be able to wipe out every last one of them.

Alucard was incredulous to learn just how deeply she had managed to entrench herself in human politics as well. She had used the Blitz as a catapult to hurl herself into the Round Table, and from there her influence spread to allied nations of the UK, as well as any other country that her empire encompassed. Every nation in the world had a secret monster hunting organization like Hellsing, and Maria had come to each of them promising to "enslave" the vampires of that nation so that they would instead hunt monsters, while she would manage the vampires themselves. With this agreement she was not only given free reign over the vampires in that country, she was also building up trust with the humans by showing them that vampires could be beneficial. And by giving the more warmongering members of their society the task of monster hunter, she was helping to prevent them from getting bored and starting a bloody war with another coven or the humans. It was sheer genius.

But she hadn't just thought of tasks for the malicious; she had also found a duty for the matronly as well with the orphanages. It was a matter he had never really considered, but it didn't surprise him that she had chosen this avenue to strengthen ties with the humans. He remembered the way she had reacted when finding that human child during a mission, and he knew that she secretly longed for a child of her own with him, even though she understood the infeasibility of it. The orphanages would hopefully provide a suitable substitute for her.

The more Alucard read, the more he realized just how uncanny her ken of both vampire and human nature was. Though she had once told him she had no desire to develop her ability to read souls, it seemed that she had honed it somewhat over the years and was using it to her advantage. She knew that vice was always the cause of a vampire's downfall and purposefully crafted means to prevent most from succumbing to them, such as the monster hunting for the wrathful, implementing duelling as a means of succession for the envious and prideful, and carrying out his own brand of punishment for any who still broke her rules. Her innate comprehension of humans and their inner workings allowed her to slowly but surely worm her way into their hearts until they were all her servants, and Alucard was stunned to see that in thirty years time she had not once used her powers of enthrallment to coerce a human into aiding her in any way.

He kept expecting to see mention of aids or servants in the mission reports, but it appeared that Maria truly had done the vast majority alone. She had gotten another familiar, and for the first couple years she had gone to their master to receive approval for her plans, and she had in recent years become close with a gerent named LaSalle that he would thoroughly inspect and perhaps kill later. She delegated local governance to the gerents of the established covens but held bi-monthly meetings with all gerents of each continent to discuss matters and was fastidious when it came to correspondence. Next to nothing happened in her lands without Maria's notice.

The realization struck him that while he would likely always have more strength than Maria, she had a power that he would never be able to attain. For all his aspirations of becoming king, it was she who had the true ability to rule. A part of him burned with envy at the revelation, but another part of him had always known this of her. After all, she had ruled over his heart for all of these years, and if she could make him bend his knee to her she could make anyone.

He finished reading tonight's report that detailed the execution in Colombia and her hearty snack in Japan, chuckling to himself. She had truly become monster enough for the two of them in his absence.

This level of devotion and dedication necessitated a reward. But what would be suitable for a woman who had the entire world at her fingertips? She wasn't the same girl who could be placated with old trinkets.

His shadows wrapped around him and brought him to the training grounds where Maria was chatting with the Frenchman and a few other soldiers, laughing at some banal joke. Though he had appeared behind them and out of their line of sight his cloying presence was noticeable even to the human soldiers. It seemed that the Captain had been training them well, as they all turned to look at him.

He cast his crimson gaze on Maria and said with dark smirk, "I heard that you ate a gerent's heart today. You've developed an odd appetite since I left."

As the men around her looked between them in shocked disgust Alucard bit back laughter when her angelic smile twisted into a furious scowl.

"You must have misread. That was Suflețel," she lied in an even tone even as she snarled in his mind, _Are you out of your mind? Don't bring up something like that in front of the men._

So she still was peculiarly concerned with what the Hellsing soldiers thought of her. Amusing. "My mistake," he said easily.

"Alucard, welcome back," the Frenchman said, and the No-Life King grinned when he saw the captain's red eye. It was the first time he had seen him in person since before the Blitz.

"How has the Night treated you so far?" he asked.

The mercenary shrugged. "It's been an adjustment." It seemed that he too was reluctant to divulge the truth before his men.

 _Alucard, a word._ His master called him.

With a momentary tip of the hat he phased directly into her office. Upon his return he had gone straight to her chambers where he knew her to be asleep. The thirst had been so strong he thought he would turn to dust, and he had been delighted to see that her reflexes had not dulled in his absence. The eyepatch was unexpected, but she had aged just as gracefully as Maria, though where Maria's features had become softer and warmer, their master's had become sharper and austere. It suited them both.

"Have you forgotten what a door is while you were away?" the blonde ground out from her desk, a cigar between her teeth.

"My apologies," he said unapologetically. "You summoned me?"

"Yes. You've changed your look, Count."

He had been in this form for the past thirty years and to a being made of shadows and memories a body meant very little. He had nearly forgotten that he had assumed his original appearance. "Maria said I needed to look her age and I am obliging her for now."

Sir Integra nodded and then said, "We must discuss your bride."

He glided closer to her desk and waited for her to speak.

"You've read her records, so you understand the scope of her achievements," his master said. "She has poured her life and soul into this, and she has done it all out of her love for you."

Alucard balked at such a bald reference to her feelings, and his master seemed to notice the way his shoulders tensed unconsciously because she smirked before continuing.

"But no matter how much she cares for you and no matter how many souls she has at her disposal, I can't help but think what she has accomplished should be impossible. Would you agree?"

He nodded. "Seras informed me that she was often going without meals or sleep. On top of a grueling schedule I was draining her blood and rest daily. It should have killed her or at least depleted her souls."

"I thought as much. All this time I have been pondering exactly _how_ she has been able to walk the line of man and monster from such a young age. Have you ever considered that she isn't fully human?"

Alucard mulled over her words.

"You claimed it was because she was eager to join you in the Night and because she was always around you that the two of you formed a mental connection long before the ritual, and that she was able to utilize her third eye. But what if she was already part vampire when you found her?"

The No-Life King snarled at the idea that another vampire may have lain claim on her before he had. "No. Her blood is pure."

"Well," Sir Integra sounded unconvinced, "after all these years we have still been unable to locate her place of birth. I'm afraid we still don't have a coffin prepared for her and we likely never will."

"Mine will suffice," he said unconcernedly.

His master gave him a perplexed look. "How? All vampires need the soil of their birthplace to rejuvenate, even you."

He smirked. She was just as inquisitive as all the other Hellsing heirs before her. If he looked only at her hawkish blue eye it could have been any of his previous masters sitting behind that desk. "'Birthplace' doesn't have to be taken literally. She considers her life to have started when we met, and therefore my presence will act as a suitable substitute."

"Good." Integra scribbled down a note on paper, perhaps to file this knowledge away for later. "Now, just one more thing. Maria has done a damn good job of building your kingdom and preparing the human governments. Don't undo it. That's an order."

Alucard grinned sardonically. "You think I would destroy my own kingdom?"

"I know what you're like when you get bored," she said flatly.

A fair assessment. Ennui had been his downfall a hundred years ago. "I have a feeling that it will be quite a while before I get bored again."

Sir Integra grinned. "Yes, I imagine so."

* * *

At sunrise Maria followed Alucard into his coffin, poorly stifling a yawn. She rested her head on his chest and he wrapped an arm around her to lay a gloved hand over the red seal on her hip.

Absentmindedly she ran a couple fingers over his chest hair. "A part of me still can't believe you're back. That maybe I'll wake up and you'll be gone," she admitted.

"I just spent the last three decades slaughtering millions to return to you," he said flatly. "I have no intention of leaving just yet."

"Good. We've got to decide how and when to reveal you to the gerents as well. I was thinking the UK first, followed by Europe, the Americas, Australia, and Asia. The UK's bi-monthly meeting just so happens to be in two weeks."

He shot her a sharp, probing look. "Who is LaSalle?"

She laughed and ran a finger along his creased brow to smoothe it. A devious thought crossed her mind and with a dark smirk she asked, "What if I told you we were lovers?"

Rage flashed through his eyes and his fangs glinted as he bared them.

Most people would have been terrified, but her smile only widened. "Don't worry. The only kisses I accept are to my hands or boots." His hand that had a death grip on her hip slackened but he continued to glare sourly at her for teasing him. She continued, "I needed insider knowledge of vampire covens and how they worked and I needed to know more about the history of vampire society. LaSalle has been in England since the Norman Conquest and has many contacts that were able to provide me with the information I needed. He's been a wonderful ally to me this entire time."

"He tried to kill you when you first met," he reminded her testily.

"Who _didn't_ try to kill me when we first met?" she laughed. "What other questions do you have for me? Begin the interrogations, if you please."

Maria had only been half-way serious as she was very tired, but Alucard took this as a green light and asked immediately, "Where did you find the plans for my castle?"

"Ah, that. It took a long time. I went to Romania to tend to some affairs and while I was there looked for records, but there were none exact enough. And then I realized that I had probably absorbed some of your old soldiers and vassals when I took in all of the blood in London after you had vanished. So I hunted them down within myself and went through their memories until I was able to sketch the blueprint."

"You waded through more than two million souls to locate these memories." He seemed almost confused. "Why?"

She fondled his long waves absentmindedly as she murmured, "You've given me everything I could possibly dream of having and more. What sort of bride would I be if I didn't do everything in my power to please you?"

His lips were on hers in a grateful kiss that she gladly returned. She liked how his beard and moustache tickled slightly and the way his calloused hands felt when they roved her body as she crawled on top of him.

 _What do you desire? Make any request and I will grant it,_ he swore as she rubbed her slick warmth against his need.

Maria had never heard him utter such magnanimous words. She continued to enjoy the feel of his cool body against her warm one and sucked on his tongue, making him groan and squeeze her ass longingly.

When she offered no answer he suggested, _I could complete the ritual now, allow you to fully join the Night beside me._

 _As tempting as it is to be rid of this cumbersome body,_ she said as she bit down on his lip and sucked at the ruby red droplets that welled up, _I still need it for a few more years until I've further improved relations with the humans._

 _A better sword?_

 _It's steeped in the blood of our enemies and our will. There is no better blade. Besides, it's precious to me because it was once yours._

The No-Life King hissed in irritation as she declined him again. In retaliation he bit her tongue viciously and sucked down all the blood that spilled forth. It was a pain that she had missed.

 _Then what?_ he growled.

There were things that Maria desired. Foolish, human wishes that she knew he could not bestow upon her. She schooled her thoughts carefully lest they rise to the surface where he could see them.

 _Let me think on it,_ she said finally. _It's not often the No-Life King deigns to be so generous. I would hate to waste my wish on a whim._

She could feel his irritation across their bond like a burning itch she couldn't scratch. Alucard continued to kiss her voraciously as he ran his rock hard length against her womanhood, so dangerously close to penetration that her breath hitched.

 _I'm fain to turn you now so I can claim you in every way,_ he breathed.

Maria's core flashed hot with need at his admission and she sighed against his lips, tugging on his long hair. She had been pining for that for three long decades.

But in a truly herculean show of resolve she broke the spell he so easily cast over her and pulled away to give him a teasing smirk. "Creatures of vice…"

He gave a dark chuckle and traced the outline of her wet pussy with his manhood once more before relenting, though his deep crimson eyes were still blown with desire.

"Sleep," he commanded as they resumed their usual sleeping positions. "Seras told me how you went days and weeks at a time without food or rest. Do such a foolish thing again and I will not be forgiving."

"Yes," she nodded obediently. "Though the sleep one is a harder promise to keep."

"You will keep it," he told her ominously.

She smiled into his chest and closed her eyes. She couldn't help but wonder what had caused this change in him, this softening of his razor-sharp edges he had honed over the centuries. Had it been the past thirty years fighting his ghosts? Gratitude or guilt for everything she had done? Or had he assumed not just the body but also the mind of his old mortal self that was more capable of emotion?

No matter the reason, she was glad.

* * *

She had only been asleep for a few hours when Suflețel appeared on her chest as a kitten, a glowing cellphone clutched in her teeth. Alucard awoke immediately upon the intrusion, his gloved hand flexing protectively at her hip as he hissed at the bright display.

"Thank you," she said to her familiar and took the phone. Not wishing to keep him from his rest, she opened the coffin lid to get out.

He growled, "Stay. And turn off that infernal light."

She swiped left to take the phone call and said calmly, "Maria speaking."

"My Lady!" A man was on the other end in hysterics and there was a horrible whooshing sound in the background, as though he were calling from inside a tornado. "You must come immediately! We are being attacked by these—these creatures of fire! They burn everything in sight and nothing stops them!"

In the blink of an eye Maria was ready for battle, garbed in the same white dress with buttons she had worn for years now, her crown resting upon her curls. She demanded, "Where? How many strong?"

"Rapid City, South Dakota, and I don't know—they're so—"

There was a scream and the sound of the wind became deafening before the connection severed.

"For fuck's sake," Maria snarled as she emerged from the coffin and summoned her weapons. Suflețel grew to the size of a horse and she mounted her with practiced ease. "Going in blind…"

Alucard also rose, dressed in black pants and a leather jerkin over a white silk blouse. "You're going alone?" he asked in surprise.

"Of course not. Suflețel is coming too."

"You don't know what the enemy is or how many there are. You could be overpowered."

Maria let out an irritated growl. "I'm aware, but I don't have time to chat about it. Please stay here. I want your return to us to be organized, not slipshod."

Knowing that he would object to this, she and Suflețel vanished before he could forbid her from leaving. She could feel his simmering fury along their mental connection and was certain that he was watching her every move closely. Let him watch, so long as he didn't get in her way.

Night had just fallen in America, the western horizon still a deep magenta while the rest of the sky had succumbed to the darkness. Suflețel had brought her to a prairie that stretched for miles in every direction, only the sea of grass had become a sea of fire and there was a horrendous shrieking sound in the distance where she could see three great sentient beasts of flame swaying in time to a hymn of misery. It seemed that the vampire who had called her had been swallowed in the conflagration along with the rest of his monster hunter men.

More than a mile away from them, Maria's presence seemed to go unnoticed. What on earth were these monolithic creatures? They were easily thirty feet tall each, made of acrid red and black flame that had her human lungs clenching in protest. She was reminded of djinns, the favored monsters of the Turks that were made of a smokeless blue flame. But there was something more primal about these red creatures before her. The sea of fire that they had created was slowly spreading, devouring the land with no sign of stopping. She would have to find a way to contain the blaze quickly lest it spread to an area with humans in it.

"Any suggestions?" she whispered to her familiar.

The shadowy hellcat looked back at her with a sharp red eye and , _Don't touch the fire._

Maria laughed at the impossible advice and withdrew her sword with quivering fingers. It had been a while since she had gone against a new beast—this fight would be as challenging as it would be exciting.

She whispered the incantation to release her powers to Level 1 and breathed a sigh of relief as she could feel the chains and fetters ease around her soul, allowing her powers to rush forth like rapids crashing over a waterfall. Beneath her Suflețel let out a battle-hungry roar and grew to the size of an elephant, her shadowy body becoming even more unstable and riddled with fanged snarls and glaring eyes.

Suflețel blasted toward the three monsters in the distance with a roar, soaring over the sea of tall flames with ease. In the past three decades Maria and her familiar had become a seamless team, so attuned with one another that Maria never had to utter an order. She rose to stand on the cat's back, using her shadows to steady her feet and counter the force of the wind, her greatsword out and prepared to slice off the head of one of the beasts.

The three felt their approach and turned to face her. Just tall columns of fire like silhouettes, they had no faces or distinguishable features. Tendril-like fire sprouted from them and shot toward Maria and Suflețel with shocking speed, but they phased out of the way and with a yell Maria swung her shadow-coated sword where she thought its neck was.

But it was as ineffectual as if she had passed it through a stream of water. The beast didn't even react—it just swirled around and lashed a whip of red and black flame at her. Taken aback by this, Suflețel bucked up and sent Maria flying into the air and out of the way of the fire where Puișor swooped down to encircle her raised arm with its razor-sharp talons.

She watched from above as the hellcat sank its fangs into the head of the beast but yowled in pain before jumping away. Maria had never known her familiars to feel pain. What were these strange things?

Maria issued her shadows like a tidal wave to quench the beasts and their sea of fire in one massive tsunami, but the flames swallowed her shadows as if they had evaporated on impact.

These things...were they true monsters? Monsters like Alucard that could only be defeated by man? She had never before encountered an enemy so impervious to her darkness.

"Suflețel, Puișor, retreat," she ordered them both. "This isn't a battle for you."

They both protested, but ultimately capitulated to their master. Puișor let her down at the boundary of the sea of fire and in the distance the three monsters began gliding toward them unhurriedly.

"Go, go," Maria said impatiently as her two familiars lingered, staring at her with thousands of concerned eyes. "I've got an idea."

Suflețel pressed her shadowy nose to Maria's as she whispered, _Be careful,_ and then the two of them vanished, leaving Maria alone with the three gradually encroaching monsters. She gritted her teeth and phased a quarter of a mile away to a lake that was a placid reflection of the starry sky. The calm of this meadow was at odds with the blaze she could make out on the horizon.

Hurriedly she slid on her thick leather gloves and then summoned a small, carefully wrapped linen package. She unwrapped it to reveal the shriveled, mummified finger of a priest. A letter of apology to the Vatican would be in order, as she had stolen it from their stocks just now. She tossed it into the lake and watched as its glassy surface began to glow like the aurora had come to rest within its depth and a hard smile grew on her lips. What was coming next would be unpleasant.

The one problem with this plan was that this body of water was too far from the beasts and the sea of fire. She needed bring this freshly made holy water to them and she didn't exactly have a pump on hand.

Therefore, she would become the pump.

 _Are you stupid?_ Alucard snarled in her mind even as she began summoning a thick layer of shadows that hovered above the lake like fog. _You have too much of my blood in you to handle that._

 _I know my limits,_ she bit back.

She closed her emerald eyes and took a deep breath to steel herself for the excruciation she knew was to come. Her arms held out before her like a conductor, she pulled them down slowly and her symphony of shadows descended into the holy water, absorbing every last drop like a sponge.

A vampire's shadows were an extension of their being, and as such could feel pain just as any other appendage could. It was as if Maria had the sun burning from inside her body, setting her on fire and melting her bones and organs to mush.

Screaming, she hurled her arms in the direction of the three fire beasts and watched as her shadows hurtled toward them at breakneck speeds. Her paralyzed body borne by sputtering and fading shadows she followed them and watched with half-lidded eyes as her shadows exploded over the meadow of flame, raining the holy water down in one massive monsoon. The three monsters let out horrific shrieks that could crumble mountains and the earth shook as their flames were quenched to reveal peculiar wooden figures only a few inches high. They looked like little men made of twigs, and they hobbled about clumsily as they squealed.

Hideous boils had erupted all over Maria's body and she vomited up all of the blood she had consumed in the past few days, black and fetid, but she couldn't leave this job unfinished. She needed to add these three souls to her collection—they would be the crown jewels of her army. Moaning in pain she forced herself to summon a blessed blade into her gloved hand and crouched down to ram the tip of it into each little stick man's thin chest. They wriggled and their beady black eyes glinted like beetles' before they turned to ash.

With the last bit of her strength she willed the tatters of her shadows to bring their souls into her. They were acrid and foul, like swallowing a hunk of smoldering offal, but they were vanquished and their odd fire extinguished.

Suflețel appeared beside her as a black leopard and picked her up by the scruff of her neck. Still feeling like she was boiling alive, all Maria could do was hang limply in her grasp. This was even more painful than the time she fought Anderson.

In a moment she was back at Hellsing headquarters in Alucard's chamber. Her familiar lay her on the cool stone floor gently and the sudden contact with the cold had her burning skin screaming in agony. She vomited again, only this time it was her own fresh blood that dribbled down her lips and to the flagstones.

"You fool." Alucard was positively seething beside her. He slit his wrist and held it out before her trembling lips. "Do you have a deathwish?"

She turned away from his blood, knowing that anything she took in now would only be forced back out. _Bath,_ she stammered. _Draw a bath._

The No-Life King growled incredulously, "A what?"

Of course he wouldn't know. _Seras,_ she reached out to the draculina. _Seras, help._

Suflețel picked her up once more despite Alucard's protests as Seras appeared, gasping at her friend's horrid appearance.

"C'mon," the blonde said urgently, and tugged her master through the wall and into Maria's bathroom where Suflețel watched over her owner's jagged breathing. Seras drew a knife from her hip and slit her arm deeply, allowing it to drip into the porcelain tub as she explained, "She can't use the souls to heal herself like you can. Hurry and fill this tub with blood. It's the quickest way for her to recover."

With a wave of his gloved hand Maria was nude and he placed her in the tub gently. Her emerald eyes fluttered open briefly at the contact but her head lolled limply to the side. Fading in and out of consciousness, she struggled to hear what Seras and Alucard were saying as she felt something cool and thick drip over her in a steady stream and soothe the ache infinitesimally.

"What is the meaning of this? This has happened before?"

"On a couple occasions, but never due to holy powers. She can use the souls to heal individual wounds, but not to fix systematic injuries like this. ...I've never seen her this badly injured. Maria, what happened?"

The brunette stirred at her name and tried to open her eyes but they were too heavy. "Fire," she answered with a sluggish tongue. "Weird fire. Used holy water."

"How has this imbecile managed to survive all these years?" Alucard snarled. "Drawing in an entire lake of holy water, even if only for a couple seconds, is suicide."

"Maria!" Seras gasped in shock.

The No-Life King ordered, "Now tell her why you were so determined to kill them."

"They'd be...they'd be perfect for my army," she whispered.

"Little fool." Alucard's tone was acidic enough to burn as much as the blisters. "Your thirst for power will be your downfall."

She vomited over the side of the tub once more and Seras whispered, "Was that bone?"

"Maria, nu adormi," he ordered sternly. "Uita-te la mine."

Her mind was foggy and her body didn't want to listen to her. She tried to open her eyes and look at him like he commanded, but they simply wouldn't cooperate. The tub was now halfway full and she could feel the No-Life King's power beginning to seep in through her pores and counteract the poison of the holy water, pushing it out of her like squeezing pus out of an abscess.

She lost track of how many times she retched. Surely there was nothing left for her to spill. It felt as though the holy water had burned away everything inside her so that she was naught but a loose casing of flesh filled with agony.

Blindly she reached for Alucard, whose wrathful presence she could feel just beside her. He took her blighted hand in his with a gentleness that contradicted his acerbic tone. "Keep under the blood."

"Normally I get in with her," Seras said. "She says that your presence helps heal her, and since your blood is in my veins…"

"How long until she is healed?"

"Usually a day, but this time might take longer."

"Go. Your assistance is no longer required."

"Y-yes, Master. Please let me know if you need anything."

Maria sensed her friend leave and in the next moment the thick bath of blood up to her neck was undulating sluggishly as Alucard joined her, sitting behind her so that she could rest her head against his broad chest.

"Should've taken you up on your offer," she breathed.

"Yes, you should've. If you had been able to regenerate like me you could have reached through the flames to tear out its wooden heart."

"What were they?"

He circled his strong arms around her. "They were likely Hinns. Monsters of fire that predate the djinns, though they were thought to have been extinct for two thousand years."

"Fuck the Turks," she whispered.

"Such language doesn't suit your station."

"Sorry. I don't feel eloquent right now."

"If you ever do something this foolhardy again I will leave you to wallow in the pain," he promised her. "You've grown too power-hungry."

She frowned. "I had no choice but to become as strong as possible. How else could I rein in all the covens?"

"I'm here now," he reminded her, "and we each have an army of souls at our disposal. Stop taking in souls."

She was loath to obey him but said, "Fine. I'll only take in what I deplete."

"Seras said you've done this before. Why wasn't it noted in your records?"

"Seras, Pip, and Sir Integra are the only three who know of this. If an enemy were to learn that I can't regenerate from certain attacks, it could be my downfall. That's why I never recorded it on paper."

He remarked more to himself than to her, "How can you be so pragmatic in one area and so dense in another?"

Suflețel, who was perched watchfully on the edge of the tub beside them, gave Alucard a reproachful hiss that he ignored. Maria chose not to say anything to him. What she had done had been masochistic, but she had prevented anyone else from being killed and had added three excellent slaves to her army in the process. She had no regrets.

She was weary and every inch of her body still burned, but the blood and Alucard's presence were helping. Already the boils had grown a bit smaller and the agony had gone from wishing for death to almost tolerable. Before she slept she needed to send out letters to the relevant people.

In a moment she had summoned some parchment and the fine fountain pen that Sir Integra had gifted her several years ago. They floated in midair above them, suspended by her shadows, and the pen glided across the paper to turn her thoughts into ink.

"That can wait," Alucard said tersely.

"And have them think that I needed to rest after that? No." Maria kept writing. "A letter to Jackson, the head gerent of America, explaining the situation and ordering a follow-up investigation, a letter to the Vatican detailing what I requisitioned and why, a letter to the Turks thanking them for the entertainment, and a mission report for Master."

"Write one more," he ordered, and the pen paused mid-word as she wondered at his sudden change. "Call a meeting of all the gerents. They must pay respects to their King."

"Very well," she smiled, and the pen began whizzing across the paper once more.

* * *

 **A/N:** This chapter was a bit shorter, but I thought it was a good point to end it. What were your thoughts on it? See ya later.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N:** Getting towards the end, now. Just a few more chapters.

* * *

Maria was largely healed by the following morning, though she wore gray tights under a long-sleeved turtleneck sweater dress to hide the angry red scars from the blisters until they too faded. Her evening was taken up almost entirely by correspondence. Her letters to all of the head gerents calling for a meeting the following week had caused great unrest. Replies inquiring about his temperament, suggested tithes, and even how many virgins he would like to be given came. Maria answered them all diligently. (He was his usual self; tithes were unnecessary though he did enjoy a good bottle of pinot grigio; Maria would personally flay anyone who brought her groom virgins, even if they were only meant for consumption.)

She also gifted Alucard with something she had been saving for fifteen years and counting. When she entered his chambers with the large, thin black box in her hands he was at his table reading the files regarding Acquisitions and didn't bother to look up at her. She marveled again at just how perfect he was no matter what form he took. This more mature, weathered Alucard with his wild waves and dignified brow was so much kinglier than the youthful prince he had been for the first quarter of her life. Though his clothes had changed to garments that were popular several centuries ago, Maria found that she liked them even more than the red trench coat ensemble he had favored for so long. The black trousers were timeless, and while the silk blouse with its belled sleeves that tapered into cuffs coupled with a laced deep brown leather vest conjured an image of Blackbeard, it was undeniably fetching.

"Do you intend to stare at me from afar all night?" he drawled as he turned a page.

"Maybe," she teased, but then came to stand beside him.

He glanced at the box in her hands and a smirk crossed his lips. "What is this?"

Grinning herself, she slid onto his lap with the box between them and his hands slid down her waist and to her ass appreciatively. "Just a little 'Welcome Back' gift."

Alucard opened the box and she watched his eyes dance with delight as he took in the two brand new pistols nestled inside. He took one into his hand and admired its heft before sliding the action back experimentally. Both were black and resembled the Jackal, though their inner workings were completely different.

"Seras told me that your guns were destroyed during the Blitz," she explained, "so I had these made. I hope you like them."

"They're excellent," he grinned, looking for all the world like a boy on Christmas morning. He placed the box with the guns in them on the table and then pulled her to his chest to give her a hungry, jagged kiss.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and threw herself into the embrace immediately. When she dashed her tongue on his fangs she felt his cock twitch beneath her as he sucked voraciously at the wound. Maria couldn't help but be reminded of the first time they had kissed, here in this very same chair in this very same position. Simultaneously it felt like it was only yesterday and it was a century ago.

The memory must have flashed before his eyes as well because he made an amused sound into the kiss as he squeezed one of her ample breasts. _You're so different from that girl, and yet the same._

She undid the lace of his jerkin so she could snake her hand beneath his shirt to feel his cool chest, pausing to tweak a nipple. _How so?_

His breath hitched at her warm touch and one of his gloved hands crept up her dress to feel her sex through the sheer cotton underwear. _You're still so hot to the touch there are times I think I might combust,_ he breathed as he sucked on her lip hungrily, _and your smile is still the only glimpse of Heaven I will ever have. But—_

Alucard hiked up her dress and she gasped when suddenly their pants were gone so her bare desire could press against his hard cock. Firm hands on her ass guided her along him and she tossed her head back as she lost herself in the sensation of him.

— _But you have blossomed into a woman capable of bringing man and monster to his knees,_ he continued as he suckled at her neck.

Maria's fingers knotted in his long waves, a silvery moan escaping her lips as he fingered her pearl. He was staring at her as if she were the only star in his sky and it was enough to drive her mad with want.

"I'm tired of waiting," she whispered against his lips. "Take me. Make me yours once and for all."

His fingers between her legs stilled and he gave her a soul-searching look. "I must warn you—I've lost the patience I once had. If you keep entreating me like this I won't resist."

Maria felt nothing but a longing that reached to her very soul. Her entire life had been hinging on this moment, on casting aside the fetters of her humanity and truly becoming one with him and the Night. There was no hesitation within her.

"I'm ready," she told him.

In the blink of an eye he had taken them to her chambers and she lie naked beneath him. Alucard prowled over her, his crimson gaze almost feral in its hunger.

"There is no turning back," he cautioned her. "All food that touches your lips will turn to ash. The sun will become your bitter enemy. You will become a monster alongside me."

Seeing him hovering over her poised to take away her humanity for good caused a flicker of doubt to cross her mind. She wanted to become his Queen; that was an undeniable truth that would never change. But was she ready for it just yet?

Alucard watched her unblinkingly, a spark of mirth glowing with his crimson depths.

Maria opened her mouth to say something when the phone on the nightstand beside her rang. The vampire just laughed and rolled off her so she could answer it.

"This is she. Yes. Yes. I see. No, please ignore my friend." She shot Alucard a filthy look as he was still laughing at her earlier brashness. "I will be there. Thank you."

She ended the call and put the phone back on the nightstand before scowling at Alucard, who was lying on his side and grinning at her.

"You're awful," she pouted. "That was a very important call about meeting the President of the United States."

"I'm a 'friend?'" he asked, blatantly ignoring her complaints. "I'm wounded."

"You're less than a friend if you keep up teasing me like this," she warned him before giving him a vicious kiss he gladly met.

"When exactly do you plan to reveal me to the humans? I take it they don't know of me."

"Well, obviously the Round Table and Her Majesty does, but to everyone else I remain single despite their best efforts. There are rumors in certain circles that Master and I are lovers."

Maria didn't need to be able to read Alucard's mind to know what he was imagining as his mouth split into a devious smirk. She rolled her eyes at him before continuing.

"We have several avenues to take until Sir Integra is gone and we truly gain our throne, at which point we will have to divulge your relation to me. I could start introducing you as my perfectly human and regular fiance or husband now, or wait a while. Or wait until it's time for us to take our throne and hit them with the double whammy of you being an immortal vampire king _and_ my secret spouse, though I don't think it wise to spring something like that on them."

"But…?" he prompted, sensing her misgivings.

"Well, firstly we're not engaged or married."

Alucard frowned. "You're my bride, you wear the crown I gave you."

"I'm pretty sure even back in your time that wouldn't count as a marriage or even engagement. Didn't you exchange rings and vows?"

His frown changed from one of bemusement to bother. "A ring I can easily give you, but we can never be joined in holy matrimony."

Maria laughed as the brief image of the two of them before an altar cringing as a priest attempted to wed them floated through her mind. Surely Alucard would grow irritated and behead him before he could finish, and her wedding dress would be sprinkled with blood instead of rose petals.

"As amusing as an attempt would be, I'm satisfied without a proper wedding ceremony," she said as he chuckled at the scene unfolding in her mind. "But I will say this: growing up a soldier of Hellsing and your queen has prevented me from enjoying most of the things a girl dreams of, like having a white picket fence and watching her children grow up. I'd like this one dream of mine to come true."

"This is your wish, then?" Alucard asked. "These trivial human ceremonies mean nothing to me, but if it is important to you I will make the concession."

Maria's heart leapt gladly and she gave him a thankful, eager kiss as she crawled on top of him. The look she gave him was purely sedulous as she slid down his body leaving a trail of nips and licks. "Then allow me to make a concession of my own."

Losing his fingers in her long curls he laughed.

* * *

The week went by quickly, Maria's time taken up with a two day summit in Spain with various European governments concerning current vampire and other supernatural issues, as well as two executions in the Philippines and Australia. Alucard had been surly over her prolonged absence, but when she told him that was rich coming from someone who had been gone for the majority of her life, his scowl had lessened to a frown.

It was finally the night of the meeting with all of the head gerents. Over two hundred of the world's most powerful vampires would be there, and Maria would be a fool not to be nervous. Compulsively she smoothed the knee-length white sheath dress with a deep v-line that dipped to her navel. She hadn't worn it in years as she thought she was too old for such a risque number, but Alucard had been insistent. She supposed it _did_ still suit her, thanks to Alucard's blood that helped to turn back to years slowly. He had only been back for a couple weeks and she already appeared to have become nearly a decade younger. She had a feeling that there was a cap on this, though, and was pleased with what she saw. Her silver hairs had vanished and her wrinkles were much finer.

Suflețel wove figure eights between her feet and Maria reached down to stroke her back gratefully before slipping her crown onto her head and turning around in front of the mirror to take in her overall look one last time. Unable to decide what to do with an errant curl that had refused to join her updo, she flip-flopped between tucking it away or leaving it be.

"Stop."

She left the curl to hang down and turned to see Alucard standing a few paces away, dressed in what was now his standard garb of black pants, full-sleeved white silk shirt, and leather jerkin. His boots were brown leather that rose to his mid-calf, and he had left his hair down. Unlike her, he could have been wearing nothing but rags and anyone would still rush to genuflect before him. Perhaps it was the haughty, righteous glint in his eyes or the self-assured stance that bespoke a confidence borne of tried and tested strength, but there wasn't a shred of doubt that before her was the No-Life King.

Without even thinking she took his gloved hand in hers and kissed his knuckles reverently. He looked down at her with a gloating smirk.

"There's no need for obeisance," he told her, sounding amused as she released his hand. "Not from you, anyway."

She nodded and slipped on her black peacoat. "Shall we go, then? It starts in fifteen minutes."

In reply he proffered his arm to her and she took it gladly. The next moment her shadows had swallowed and taken them to the cairn in the Scottish moors and he walked alongside her, looking bored. Maria was having difficulty suppressing her jitters but schooled her expression to something placid. He effortlessly rolled the boulder concealing the entrance aside and they descended the narrow steps into the heart of the mountain in silence as she vanished her coat.

The frigid presence of over two hundred gerents emanated from the huge stone arena like the arctic itself was waiting behind the wooden door, but with Alucard beside her she knew that she had nothing to fear. Her back straight and head held aloft she entered the room with her groom.

A sea of vampires who had been seated in the raised amphitheatre style seats along the western wall rose upon their entrance in a great wave, and LaSalle appeared several paces for them bowing deeply.

"My King, My Queen, welcome," he said humbly.

"Rise," Alucard commanded, and the older vampire did so easily. "Maria tells me that you have been of great use to her in my absence."

"It's been my honor to be of service to the kingdom."

Alucard turned to the multitude of vampires who stood still as statues, all eyes on him. Most had schooled their expressions into something unreadable, but there were others who didn't bother to hide their elation or rage. He gave them all a wild, fanged grin.

"Bow to your King," he commanded, raising his arms out to them.

Maria watched as nearly every gerent bent their knee and knelt reverently. There were seven who remained standing, fixing their King with defiant, haughty looks. Alucard's grin only split wider at the sight.

"I have no need of recreants," he said. "Wrest my title from me, if you dare."

Maria unhurriedly went to take her seat on the eastern edge of the room where two tall stone thrones had been erected. If it had been her, she would have been tired of fighting after spending three decades locked in battle. Not Alucard, though—his bloodlust coursed through their connection like a warm syrup, sticky and tempting. The moment she took a seat both of her familiars appeared, Suflețel curling up on her lap as a kitten and Puișor imposingly perched on the top of her throne. She settled into the hard throne, stroking Suflețel with one hand and scratching Puișor's stomach affectionately with the other.

The dissenters alighted from their seats and wasted no time in running at Alucard as their human facades crumbled to reveal their wild black shadows that shot forth like vines intent on swallowing the would. They were of various countries and creed; Maria doubted that they had planned to attack their king together. Rather, upon seeing the other like-minded gerents had decided to kill Alucard in unison and then fight for the throne amongst themselves.

 _Looks a little tough,_ she teased Alucard as he pulled out his two new guns from his jerkin. _Do you need some help?_

He gave a cavalier snort and began firing at the vampires. Each bullet hit the mark, tearing gaping holes in their chests and heads, but these were gerents and with a laugh they used their shadows to patch their bodies.

 _These are regular bullets,_ he snarled to her.

She had missed getting under his skin like this. The fanged scowl he reserved for her and her antics never failed to make her hot and bothered. Chuckling, she told him, _Of course they are. You have to defeat them using your own power. Don't leave even a shadow of doubt in these vampires' minds that you are worthy of your title._

It had been so long since she had last seen him in battle. She had nearly forgotten the thrill of adrenaline and admiration that shot down her spine each time he laughed and reformed his mangled body. The way her fingers trembled and her feet ached to bring her to his side when he was disemboweling his enemies. His bloodlust was contagious, seeping into their mental connection like a wildfire.

Alucard thrust his gloved hand through a gerent's chest, ripping out his heart in the process. Blood spurted across him and the other vampires who were assailing him, and with a gleeful chuckle he swirled to face his next victim.

Three of the remaining six gerents switched tactics and surged toward Maria, who grinned as she rose to her feet and withdrew her greatsword easily. Her two familiars perched on top of her throne watching avidly. The fastest of the three had her clawed hands outstretched, mouth twisted into a vicious snarl, but Maria just laughed softly as she swept the blade through her torso, slicing her heart in half. The next vampire she ran the tip of the sword through its forehead and with a snarl it turned to dust. Lastly, with one hand on the hilt and the other on the blade itself to guide it, she lunged forward and forced the sword through the vampire's fanged jaw and cut its head in twain.

It had only been a few seconds, but in that time Alucard had dispatched the others. They were the perfect pair, with their blood-splattered clothes and feverish grins. She sheathed her sword and crossed the room to him, pulling out a white kerchief and wiping the blood from his face reverently. There was pride and a trace of lust in his red gaze and he returned the favor in kind by dragging a long tongue up her neck and her cheek, lapping up the blood there.

A possessive hand on her hip, he looked up to all of the vampires who were transfixed by their effortless display of power. "Is there anyone else foolish enough to challenge us?"

They were still as statues, and after a few moments of ringing silence Alucard's laugh rang out and bounced off the stone walls. Maria smiled up at him, glad that after so many centuries of waiting he had gained a kingdom once again.

"Now there is one more matter to attend to," he said quietly, and he suddenly knelt down before Maria on a bent knee. Her emerald eyes widened in surprise and she opened her mouth to ask what he was doing when his hellhound materialized beside him, its three rows of red eyes focused on her. In its jaws was an unassuming, small black box that Alucard took.

"Maria Dragwlya," he said, looking up at her with eyes burning with devotion, "will you become mine in heart, body, and soul, from now until the end of eternity?"

She forgot how to breathe when he opened the small box to reveal a of gold ring nestled upon a bed of black velvet, with a large sapphire above an emerald of equal size, surrounded by rubies and diamonds. Around the setting etched in delicate flowing script was the phrase "donec revertamur ad pulverem," Latin for "until we return to dust."

"Yes," she whispered, unable to take her eyes away from him and the pleasure within his depths.

He took her warm hand into his cool one to slide the ring on. Though the stones were heavy the weight wasn't ungainly. Rather, it felt as though she had regained something she had lost long ago, a familiar and comforting presence that stayed her hand.

"I promise to serve you dutifully and bring you glory," she swore.

Alucard rose to his feet, a fanged grin spreading across his lips. "You already have," he told her, and then gave her a zealous, hungry kiss that she threw herself into, the two hundred onlookers be damned. All that mattered right now was her King.

She would have been content to let him take her right then and there on the cold flagstones before their constituents, so enthralled by him was she, but with a pleased "hn" and a crooked smirk he broke their kiss. His gaze lingered wantingly on her for a few moments before he turned back to all of the gerents, who had watched the entire spectacle in surprise.

"I understand that while the majority have remained loyal to my bride in my absence, a handful of you have disrespected her. Let it be known that any trespass against her is the same as if it were against me." Here he gave them all a fiendish grin pulled tightly over shark's teeth. "My sentimental bride has been very lenient in her punishments until now, but you will find that I do not afford the same courtesy."

A few of the more transparent vampires among the crowd shivered and Maria couldn't help but smile.

There was a bit more talk until Alucard tired of it and he abruptly ended the meeting. She told all of the gerents that she would see them at the next scheduled meeting and then he whisked her back to Hellsing manor and her bed, where she immediately broke into gleeful laughter and marveled unreservedly at the ring that sat so splendidly on her left hand. He lay on his side next to her, watching her with a satisfied smirk.

"It's so beautiful," she praised as she watched the jewels catch and glimmer with the slightest movement. She realized that both the emerald and sapphire matched the colors of their human eyes flawlessly. Years from now she would be able to look upon them and recall the exact hue of her irises and of this moment. "When did you…?"

"While you were away in Spain I had them made," he explained. "They're gimmel rings— at the ceremony you will return the emerald one to me."

She took the ring off her finger and was surprised to see that what she had at first glance taken as a single ring was in fact two that were intricately connected like two links of a chain. If she applied pressure on each stone the ring would come apart to reveal two complete rings each with a half-circle of rubies and diamonds around a main stone. She put them back together and returned them to their proper place on her finger.

"I love it. We'll have the ceremony in our castle once construction is complete."

"And when will that be?"

"The architect I spoke to told me two years," Maria answered.

"That's perfect," Alucard grinned wolfishly. "We'll be able to consummate the wedding immediately."

She laughed and wrapped her arms around his waist as she claimed his lips in a feisty dance of tongue and teeth that he relished. _I'm tempted to consummate it now,_ she hummed as she lost her fingers in his coarse waves.

 _What did I tell you about testing me?_ he asked in a silky voice. His gloved hand slipped through the slit down the front of her dress and cupped a breast possessively. Giving a gasp into their kiss at his chill she tugged on his hair and wrapped her legs around his to rub her aching heat against him.

 _But it's so much fun,_ she hissed as he growled and sank his fangs into her neck.

Alucard's voice was a silky warning. _You play with fire. All I need do to complete the ritual is drain you dry and fill you with my blood. I could turn you this very moment._

Maria gave a dark laugh as she vanished their clothes away and ran a hot hand up his smoothe and rock hard shaft, causing him to groan and crush her to him. He was so weak to her warmth—she would miss this ability of hers once her heart stopped and her body turned cold as his.

As her fingers tightened around him and she began to pump up and down in a languorous pace he drank even more desperately from her, as though satiating one desire would satisfy another. One of his hands was wrapped around Maria to press her as closely to him as possible while the other viciously grabbed at her breasts.

She knew his tells, knew what each little sound and movement meant. It was incredible how she could shatter his icy facade with just her five fingers. Cold and aloof from the world, he was a star, but once he allowed you close enough you could see that he was actually a blazing sun starving for fuel.

When she suddenly picked up the pace he gave a sharp intake and tore away from her neck to kiss her ravenously, raking his tongue along his fangs so their blood could become one. As their taste mingled in her mouth she sighed longingly and continued her ministrations, running her long fingernails down his chest, along his hip and to his ass which she squeezed. She could feel his cock give an excited twitch at the pain and she smirked into their voracious kiss and reached down to cup his balls as well.

His reaction was instantaneous—his suddenly floor-length black hair wrapped around her arms as if seeking something to hold onto in a tornado and he rutted wantonly against her bare body.

But she could push him further still. As she felt him shudder against her and he groped at her frantically she whispered in his mind, _I want you to come inside my warm pussy, to fill me with your cum and then fuck me again._

And with those simple words he was moaning and spilling his seed all over her hand and stomach, desperately clenching her waist and her curls. When his crimson eyes opened they were blown with a still-unsated hunger, and his mouth fell open in a pleased smile when she drew a cum-covered finger into her mouth and sucked away every last bit of his essence.

"You're wicked," he accused.

"You can't get enough of it," she smirked.

With a low chuckle he seized her lips in a teasing, rewarding kiss. She loved how his beard and moustache tickled slightly and his curls mixed with hers against the duvet.

"Wouldn't it be nice if I could keep this body heat once I've changed?" she murmured off-handedly.

Alucard lay down beside her and wrapped a strong arm around her as she curled up against him like old times. "Wishful thinking," he dismissed.

She sighed. "I know. But nearly every other human quality of mine has been gone for so long now. I can't enjoy the sunlight, the only food I can manage to eat is plain bread and apples. The only thing I have left to lose that I care about is this warmth that pleases you so much."

His fingertips that had been absently tracing sigils into her hip stilled. The words that fell from his lips were neither an admission nor a regret. "I have taken these things from you."

"Yes, but only because I agreed to it."

When he remained taciturn and his hand was still frozen a few moments later, Maria sat up to take in his expression. He was fixing her with a cloudy frown, his brow furrowed as though he were looking at some previously undiscovered and vaguely unpleasant creature.

"I had thought that my absence would allow you a longer taste of life as a human, but such was not the case."

Propping herself up on an elbow she fixed him with a puzzled expression. She realized then that for all of her prowess with the powers of the Night he had gifted her so long ago, he still viewed her as just a human. For all his teasing of her devilish nature, in his eyes she was still a girl playing dressup in a monster's pelt. He had thought that she would use these three decades as time to appreciate the finer aspects of humanity, like...what? She couldn't even guess what he had envisioned. Her entire life had been within the confines of his will and Hellsing's orders. The chance of a "normal" life had never been given to her from the start. And with his vanishing in the immediate aftermath of Millennium how could she have lived with lived with herself if she had just let the world go to shit while she retired to the country to pick up knitting or something equally insipid?

For him to look at her with those eyes—like he was finally seeing both sides of her for the first time and he didn't entirely like what he saw—was enough to set her teeth on edge.

"What would you have had me do?" she demanded. "Abandon Master and Seras, buy some cottage in the country and get cats? My humanity was forfeit the moment you found me and brought me back here all those years ago. You had to have known that I would never have a chance at a normal life."

He just stared blankly at her, his face a perfect mask. He had erected an iron wall in his mind as well, preventing her from any and all access to what he was thinking. Meanwhile she could still feel his tendrils probing her mind, as though each of her thoughts were drops of nectar. She brought down her own wall on the tendrils, severing them cruelly. His eyes widened in mute surprise—she hadn't been able to shut him out of their connection before.

"I've known for as long as I can remember that I am yours. That it is my calling to walk beside you in eternal night," she ground out, "and that in order to do so I must carry both my humanity and your monstrosity within me. I have been towing this line with the utmost of care for nearly half a century, mostly without your help. I don't want a 'normal' life. I don't want sunshine and daisies. I never have and never will. Does this not match whatever fair maiden image you had conjured?"

His crimson eyes narrowed into a venomous glare. "You are no fair maiden."

"And yet you're looking at me as though you're startled by the fact. You've seen me rip out hearts of other vampires, slaughter human and monster alike, revel in the massacre beside you. And when the task of assembling our kingdom fell to me I had to refine my balancing act even further lest the vampires rip me to shreds. I split my soul into eight pieces and scattered them on each continent so I could travel unhindered, I took in hundreds of thousands of souls so I could defend our reign from any who would see it destroyed. With your name and my power alone I subjugated two-thirds of the vampire world and established a society unseen in two millennia. I had my would-be betrayers tortured and slaughtered, either by my hand or the hand of those they held dear before I killed them as well. I bathed in their blood and laughed.

"If anything, in these thirty years I have merely sunk deeper and deeper into my identity as your monstrous bride and perfected my facade of sweet woman for the silly humans. There is little human left in me, except for this beating heart and burdensome paper body."

If any of her chilling confession had disturbed him, not even a flicker of emotion flashed across his statuesque face. He said simply, "You've changed."

A bitter, biting laugh forced its way out of her lips. "I had no other choice."

"I didn't ask you to take it upon yourself to do all of this," he said coldly.

At this a snarl curled Maria's lips to reveal two rows of needle-like fangs and she hissed, "What?"

He stared coolly at her, completely unfazed by her ghastly grimace. "I had imagined that you would make a couple alliances among the vampires while I was away, nothing more. You have been using me as an excuse to amass power."

His ungratefulness stung like a barb and she was tempted to rip his tongue out for saying something so slanderous, but she forced herself to drop the snarl and adopt a placid, unreadable expression like his. "Is that what you think?" she calmly asked.

"That's what I know. You changed the night I vanished. You vowed revenge against a ghost and you haven't been the same since. I see now that you didn't follow my word the night after we first encountered the priest."

Maria thought back to the time she had met Father Anderson and had been wounded by his blessed blades. The night after that she had been unable to sleep without Alucard in bed beside her, and he had indulged her but said, "It will do neither of us good if you are too dependent on me."

This puzzled her. If nothing else, she had proven her independence from him these past three decades. Still, somehow she gleaned what he was aiming for and she decided to take it from him before he had the chance to wield it like a weapon against her.

"Ah, the dangers of dependence," she said coolly. "Very well. I've done fairly well without you for the past several years. I can continue a while longer. I'll make sure not to rely on you unless necessary."

If he was taken aback by this tactic, it didn't show on his face. "Good," he said simply, and with that vanished back to his chambers.

Maria lay on the bed staring up at the stone ceiling. She looked at the palm of her hand as if the lines there were a map of the paths she had trodden these past years. It was true that she had changed, but not the way Alucard thought. She wasn't power-thirsty; she had only grown strong enough to ensure that no one could wrest their kingdom from them while he was gone. She had done all of this for _him_ , to please _him_ —why couldn't he give her even a modicum of thanks?

She supposed that he had shown his gratitude by indulging her with the rings that sat so prettily on her finger. But why had he pulled away so suddenly after?

Those three decades she had longed for many aspects of him. His laughter, his strength, his smile—all these things and more she had dreamt of day after day. But more than anything else, she had yearned for his understanding. She had long thought him to be the only person who could understand her duality, but tonight had proven that even the No-Life King couldn't wrap his mind around her existence.

The loneliness was crushing.

She couldn't stand to be in this room, in this castle where everything she saw and touched reminded her of him and his callousness. She wasn't due to arrive in America for her meeting with the Secretary of Defense and the President until ten a.m., but she needed to stretch her wings.

She dressed and Puișor appeared before her as a massive black eagle large enough for her to clamber onto. Wrapping her legs tightly around his torso and stroking his soft feathers, she whispered, "Let's take the long way tonight."

Puișor gave a soft chitter of agreement and with a flap of his great wings they had vanished to reappear high above Hellsing manor and were soaring westward. It was a night of low-hanging clouds that they flew above, making it seem as though the world had turned to gray nothingness. Above her was an ocean of stars that stretched limitlessly in all directions and a full moon hung majestically over them. It was bitterly cold, but her warm clothes coupled with the heat her familiar gave off kept her safe from the elements.

Presently Suflețel appeared on Maria's shoulder, casting about animatedly. She scratched the kitten's neck and it purred as it rubbed against her ear. It wasn't often that she could afford the time to travel like this, though all three of them preferred flying over phasing.

Crossing the ocean was slightly unpleasant, but with her souls to soothe the ache it was still enjoyable. She had just left the mainland when her phone rang in her pocket.

"Maria, where are you going unannounced at this hour?" Sir Integra demanded.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I have that meeting in America tomorrow and I thought I'd take the scenic route this time. I should have informed you."

"Yes, you should have." She paused and then said slowly, "Is there something going on between you and Alucard?"

Maria balked. Of course she would tell her master if pressed, but she wanted to keep these matters between the two of them for as long as possible. "Why do you ask?"

"He's sulking in his room and you've taken off across the ocean."

She gave a nervous chuckle. "Well, he proposed to me. So there's that."

"And your mutual response is to immediately distance yourselves?"

"Seems a bit counter-intuitive, I know."

Integra gave a snort. "Is there anything about this that I should know?"

"No," she said easily. "I imagine things will work themselves out before long. He's not very good with change, you know."

"So that's all this is," the blonde laughed. "He can be so dramatic."

They talked for a bit more and Maria promised to have a mission report for her upon her return.

"He's sulking," she told her familiars smugly. She could imagine it now, him sitting in his high-backed wooden chair with an irritated scowl on his youthful face as he tapped the armrest impatiently. He had surely felt her presence leave the grounds and was wondering where she was off to. She never kept a written record of her planned meetings with humans or vampires for the sake of security, so unless he had read her mind earlier and gleaned knowledge of her plans he would have no clue why she was vanishing to another continent. Even better, while she was free to travel the world as she pleased, Alucard required Sir Integra's permission to leave the grounds. After their talk she doubted that their master would allow him to chase after her. She grinned at the thought of him fretting.

He wanted her to be more independent, to have more distance between them. She had gone most of her life without him next to her—she would continue until he caved.

For the time being she cast aside all of her thoughts of him and reveled in the feel of the wind on her face and the warmth of Puișor beneath her as they flew under the stars. It was truly a beautiful night and wasting it on worrying over her relationship with Alucard wouldn't be abided.

They arrived somewhere in the forests of Maine just before the pesky sun could begin to peek over the horizon and Maria phased to the Capitol and the hotel she had reserved several weeks prior. There she took a long, hot shower and procured a suitcase with a change of clothes and some makeup. The flight had been exactly what she had needed. Though she hadn't slept, she was perky and chipper, even optimistic.

"Maria, my dear, welcome," the President said as she was led into the Oval Office. He rose from the couch to shake her hand and the Defense Secretary who sat on the opposite couch did the same.

"Mr. President, Secretary, an honor as always," she said graciously and then took a seat in a chair that faced both couches.

"You're looking absolutely radiant," the secretary complimented. "You look ten years younger than the last time we met, I'm certain."

She gave a light laugh and when she lifted her hand to stifle the chuckle in a ladylike fashion her ring caught in the light. "Well, love has a strange effect on people."

"Congratulations! I didn't know you were seeing anyone."

"Yes, I'm afraid we had to remain a bit tight-lipped about it for a while. He's a Romanian nobleman and the political climate between them and the UK has been a bit hostile as of late."

"Well, I hope that we'll be seeing this beau of yours at the Congressional Ball next week."

Even before his sudden change in temperament a few hours ago she had been dubious about introducing Alucard into this aspect of her rule. He had never been known for patience or pretense. Would he be willing to put on a show for them like she did?

"I'll see what his schedule is like and get back to you," she said with a smile. "Now, enough gossiping and let's get down to business. What did you want to discuss?"

"We understand that we've got you and your vampires to thank for the containment of the problem in South Dakota," The Defense Secretary said. "Over these past three decades we have come to rely on you and the covens for all matters supernatural within our borders, and you have proven invaluable in terms of intelligence gathering. We were wondering if you would consider branching into another area."

"Oh?" Maria leaned forward in her seat, intrigued.

"We've received a tip of a likely terrorist attack expected to happen in four days time in Los Angeles, and we thought we could use you and your people."

Maria frowned as she considered it. "As you both are aware, I do not operate solely in America. I have alliances with many, many countries in the world. Therefore, while I wish for the goodwill and fortune of all, I cannot help one allied country to harm another. Conflict of interest, if you will."

"And if the country is not one you have an agreement with?"

"It would have to be on a case by case basis, I'm afraid. There are several more regions I am attempting to branch into. Could you be more specific?"

The President cleared his throat and leaned closer, as though he were afraid of his voice carrying. He confided, "We have strong evidence that an extremist group centered in Turkey is planning to explode a building in L.A."

"And what can you tell me of this group? Are they supported by the government?" It could have been a coincidence that this terrorist cell was based in the center of the Ottoman Empire, but it could also mean that the Turks were upping their game from petty assassination attempts to something on a more global scale. If this group were controlled by the Ottomans, it would be her duty to see them destroyed and ensure that no humans were harmed by them.

The Defense Secretary opened a manilla file on the glass table between them and turned it towards her. Maria leaned forward to make it seem as though she were relying on her weak human eyesight instead of her third eye and took in the classified information. Details on the group, its members, locations, credo, and other things were all tucked away inside.

"May I?" she asked perfunctorily, and when they nodded she took the file in her lap and skimmed through the documents. She had many spies operating within the Ottoman Empire feeding her a steady trickle of intel, and it was thanks to this knowledge that she could recognize a shadowy picture of a man as one of the vampires within the Empire. Whether this extremist group was aware of it or not, they had aligned themselves with the Turks, or were being manipulated by them.

"What do you make of it?" The President asked.

Maria finalized her strategy in a few seconds and said with a smile, "Consider it dealt with. I've had some dealings elsewhere with this crowd. It would be a pleasure to help keep American citizens safe and deliver a crushing blow to their organization. I'll write up a strategy today and have it sent to you post haste."

"Really? You'll really do this? It's quite an undertaking," the President checked, startled that she would agree so readily.

"Certainly. The vampires will be ideal for rooting out the culprits and preventing this from happening. Rest assured."

The three rose to their feet and she shook hands with them, both of whom looked immensely relieved.

"And what can we do for you in return, should you prove successful?" the Secretary asked.

She flashed them a brilliant smile. "Gentlemen, we have an agreement to offer aid to each other whenever the time comes. I will call in my favor when I have need."

After a bit more small talk and some tea she was led out by a member of Secret Service and into a private car that took her back to her hotel. Dark circles were beginning to form under her eyes and she stifled a yawn, but she summoned a couple blood packets from Hellsing headquarters and drank them as she wrote out her plan to submit to the Defense Secretary. Once finished, her familiar popped out to deliver it discretely and Maria curled up on the large king sized bed for a brief nap.

At nightfall she rose, packed her few belongings, and whisked them back to Hellsing along with a report for Sir Integra before she dropped in on one of the orphanages nearby. The children were all eating dinner and she was pleased to see that they all seemed to be thriving. Rose, the vampire in charge of this orphanage, was out on business but Maria would have to write a letter later complimenting her.

Seeing the children run around laughing and playing made Maria wistful for something she had never and would never have. As useless as she knew it to be, she had never been able to erase the desire to have children of her own. It had only grown stronger with each passing year as her human body began counting down the time until she would no longer be able to, and its incessant tick sometimes threatened to drive her mad.

Sometimes just playing with these children could fill the void, but this was not one of those nights.

She bade them all farewell and returned to her chambers in Hellsing where more letters were awaiting her reply, and once finished with those she departed again; this time to China for their bi-monthly meeting that was as humdrum as usual.

When that concluded she rode on Suflețel's back to Antarctica to visit a unique research facility that was manned by a crew of vampires and humans. The scientists there had long been studying the South Pole but were limited in what they could do owing to the freezing temperatures. When Maria had caught wind of this facility she had immediately offered to send a band of trustworthy vampires down to assist, as the cold and ice meant nothing to them and the lack of sun was a welcome reprieve. This along with the orphanages was working to brilliantly build her case as a humanitarian—the breakthrough discoveries this team had made were revolutionizing not only global warming theory but also biology.

Everyone was thrilled to see her and rushed to show her around the lab, explaining their current projects and newest findings. In the meantime, Suflețel pounced around in the snow as a kitten, a tiny black lump who melted all the snow around her with her intense body heat.

"It's unusual for you to make the trip to visit us, my Lady," Mortimer, one of the main vampire scientists commented as he offered a magnifying glass for her to peer into.

"Yes, I'm sorry for that. I'm always so thrilled by the excellent work you all are doing and yet it's so hard to find the time. I'll have to be more diligent in my visits."

"To what do we owe this pleasure?"

Maria followed him into the next room, which was full of books, desks, and state of the art electronics. He sat casually on a desk and she took a seat at a neighboring desk, crossing her legs daintily.

"I have bi-monthly meetings with all of the other covens, and while you here aren't necessarily a coven I do think it best to speak with you on at least a semi-regular basis. It's been four months since I've last visited."

Mortimer shrugged. He was more laid back than the majority of his contemporaries, with an easy smile and shaggy brown hair. Maria had recognized him immediately as someone she could trust with this crucial task of establishing goodwill with the humans. All vampires had an unquenchable thirst and his was for knowledge—he would work alongside the humans happily if it meant he would be able to unravel a new mystery.

"To be honest, there's not much that goes on here that you would be interested in," he said, "unless you'd like to know all of our findings on ice sheet dynamics."

Maria laughed and he smiled. "I think I can do without that, as thrilling as it sounds. So there are no problems? Nothing that needs my attention?"

He cast about in thought for a bit and then grinned. "Nope. The only issue is how we're going to arrange it so we can all make it to your wedding with the King. You are inviting everyone, right?"

Maria found herself chuckling even as a glance to the emerald and sapphire on her hand brought an unpleasant twinge. "We can't just go inviting every vampire. There'd be no place big enough to hold you all. There's also the human dignitaries to think about as well. But as you're an honorary gerent I'll make sure that you get an invitation."

"Oh yeah," he said, giving her the thumbs-up before sliding off the desk. She rolled her eyes. His casualness was really improper, but she knew that it wasn't done out of a lack of respect. "You must be pleased that he's finally back."

This wasn't really the area of conversation she wanted at the time. She tacked on a small smile and said, "Yes, I am. But it's an adjustment for the two of us. I have to relearn how to share, and he has to learn that I'm not the same girl he remembers from before."

Mortimer led her out of the lab and back outside where Suflețel was batting at snowflakes and bounding through the deep snow. As he watched her familiar he told her with quiet confidence, "Teaching an old vampire a new trick is next to impossible, but if anyone can do it it's you."

She turned to him and this time was able to give him an honest smile. "Thank you, Mortimer. Expect me back in two month's time. I may be in need of a pep talk again by then."

Suflețel sensed that she was ready to go and stopped her fun in the snow to obediently transform into a gargantuan shadowy leopard. Maria climbed aboard and with a final wave to the vampire allowed her familiar to carry her this time to Prague, where she had a meeting with another politician over some supernatural matter.

Truth be told, she wasn't entirely looking forward to returning home that morning, as she wasn't sure what state Alucard would be in. Would he be furious that she had been all over the world in the past forty-eight hours without giving him the slightest amount of information? Or would he be cold and aloof?

Upon phasing into her chambers she immediately felt the Nosferatu's unmistakeable presence in his room next door. Tempting though it was, she held back from trying to reach across their connection and gauge his mood. Knowing him, he was still undoubtedly cutting her off and he would sense the attempt. She needed to appear just as indifferent as he was, and so she erected her own walls before replying to the few letters that had trickled in during her outing and then curled up in bed with her arms around Suflețel, whose heat and deep, vibrating purrs filled her with comfort.

 _Why aren't you in my coffin?_

Alucard's demanding question filled her mind, yanking her out of slumber just before she could fully sink into it.

She answered plainly, _I slept in your coffin because I was resting for the both of us, but I don't need it any more._

 _It's nearing noon. Where have you been?_

 _America, China, the Antarctic, Prague. The report is already in the file cabinet if you wish to know more. If you don't mind, I'd like to get some rest. I've another busy day starting in a couple hours._

His irritation shot through their connection like a lance and then he was gone. Smiling into Suflețel's fur, she gave a sigh and drifted off. It was so easy to get under his skin.

* * *

 **A/N:** Gimmel rings were the most common version of wedding rings in the late 1400's and early 1500's, hence why I had that be the style of ring he gave her. Also, they're pretty cool. They should bring them back.

Alucard sure is a jerk, huh. It's one step forward and two steps back with this guy.

Thanks again for reading. Follow, review, y'know. Maybe check out that story of mine on fictionpress. :3


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N:** Hello again. Third-to-last chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

After a two hours' sleep she rose and readied herself for the night and downed a copious amount of blood. She knew that at the ball tonight she would be expected to eat an array of human foods that no longer mixed with her delicate system, and she would need the blood to counteract it. Alucard was still asleep judging by his energy and Maria let him be. She had nothing to say to him, anyways.

The meeting in Australia was as per usual, with talk of the latest acquisitions and progress reports regarding the squabbles between the Aboriginal covens and caucasian ones, whose feuds stretched back centuries. It seemed that one coven had fractured, citing an unwillingness to cooperate with their enemy, and since negotiations with the other gerents had proven fruitless the task to solve this problem fell to Maria.

Thinking of the ball that was set to start in a mere thirty minutes in Germany, she adjourned their meeting and phased to the renegade coven, who unfortunately refused to see reason. Vampires were so stuck in their ways. Once they had decided to do something, there was little anyone could do to sway them. She and Suflețel dealt with them all swiftly and as she wiped a streak of blood from her cheek she glanced at the clock.

"Shit," she muttered. "I _hate_ being late."

She returned to her chambers at Hellsing headquarters to change into a ball gown of snow white silk with a full,flowing skirt that trailed the floor. Slits in the many layers allowed her slender, toned legs to peek out with each step she took, like stamens emerging from the petals of a lily. The top of the dress was wonderfully crafted lace flowers that tastefully covered her breasts but left the majority of her chest and all of her shoulders on display, as well as a wide swathe of her back. With her hair swept up in a formal updo that allowed a handful of curls to cascade down and frame her face and a light dusting of makeup, she didn't have to use her powers to enthrall the humans tonight.

After completing her outfit with matching heels and a pearl-adorned clutch she phased to Munich, where she hailed a cab like a regular person and took it to the Chancellor's estate. Within were over a hundred of Europe and America's well-to-do politicians and officials in a spacious marble ballroom. A live orchestra was playing a waltz and some couples were dancing while others were along the walls partaking in fine hors d'oeuvres and drink as they networked.

"Maria, my dear!" Upon her entrance into the ballroom she was immediately spotted by the French Prime Minister, a portly man with permanently ruddy cheeks and a big smile. He crossed the room and kissed her hand politely. "How unlike you to be late."

"My apologies," she smiled, giving him a small curtsy. "I had some pressing matters in Australia that just couldn't be put off."

"Well, if it isn't Ms. Hargrave! You look simply stunning. You must tell me the name of your beautician." The American Secretary of Education shook her hand, beaming.

Maria had made the decision to change her last name from Dragwlya to the more neutral and innocuous "Hargrave" when dealing with the humans, figuring that she could announce her true last name when she announced her marriage.

"I could put you in touch with him, but his prices are murder," she smiled.

Before she knew it she was surrounded by various dignitaries eager to speak with her. Champagne and wine were pressed into her hand as she laughed when appropriate, listened intently when spoken to, and offered amusing anecdotes when optimal. While a handful of these people were genuinely interesting and kind-hearted, the majority were sharks in tuxedos that she kept close only for their practicality. After thirty years, she had perfected this persona of flawless noblewoman, the very image of grace.

Of course the massive ring on her finger was swiftly noticed and that became the topic of the night and she was bombarded with questions regarding nearly every aspect of their hitherto clandestine relationship.

"Who is this man?"

"How did you meet?"

"What does he do?"

"When is the wedding?"

Maria opened her mouth to address her crowd of interrogators when a cold, gloved hand slid around her hip.

"Perhaps it is time for introductions," Alucard said beside her, grinning.

For a brief second she was unable to school the look of astonishment from her face. The No-Life King himself stood at her side, garbed in a fine black tuxedo that fit his trim figure in a breathtaking way. His long waves were less unruly than usual, and his beard and moustache were as impeccably trimmed as ever. But his eyes—he had changed them to the icy blue that she had only seen in dreams.

"Vlad Dragwlya, a humble nobleman of Romania," he greeted, inclining his head slightly, "and lucky husband-to-be."

 _What on earth do you think you're doing here? How did you even get an invitation?_ Maria demanded even as she smiled up at him.

"Vlad Dragwla?" the German chancellor repeated almost in disbelief. He joked, "You're not from Transylvania, are you?"

"Wallachia, actually," grinned Alucard, and Maria had to resist the urge to pummel him. He must have sensed her murderous intent because his fingers flexed at her hip. "I assure you it is all a mere coincidence."

"And how did you two meet?"

Maria leapt to beat him to the answer. Of course she had crafted a story for his human persona in the event of his entrance into human politics upon his return, but she hadn't had a chance to provide that information to him. Knowing him and his perverse love for mischief and indecency, she wasn't about to let him spoil the image of perfection she had spent decades crafting for herself.

"Vlad and I both are deeply invested in the well-being of children. He sponsors a number of orphanages within the old Eastern Bloc nations and it was through this that we met several years ago. I'm afraid I gave him quite the chase, but he won me over in the end."

He took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles sweetly. Maria struggled to keep her surprise at the tender gesture from her expression.

"Yes, it took two years for her to agree to a date, and then five more years for her to admit that she found me irresistible."

 _If you say anything I don't like, I swear you will rue it,_ she vowed.

 _Please,_ he said exasperatedly. _Just because I don't enjoy these trivial court affairs doesn't mean I can't excel at them._

She gave him a teasing smile. "And it took you another two years to work up the courage to propose. I was beginning to think you never would."

"Choosing who to spend eternity with is no light decision, and I am nothing if not thorough."

There was a flurry of more questions that the two of them answered easily, but Maria's mind was only on Alucard. What was he doing here, acting so sweet and so very unlike himself? Was this some attempt to get her to come running back to him? Did he think this tenderness would make her miss his touch? He was in for a rude awakening if that were the case.

"As much as I enjoy divulging every last detail of our love life to you all," Alucard said presently, "I would be remiss not to offer my lady at least one dance tonight. If you will excuse us."

And he was pulling her onto the dancefloor and into a waltz before she had the chance to artfully evade him. The closest thing to a dance she had ever shared with Alucard was when they sparred, and the mood between them right now didn't feel that dissimilar. Despite the affectionate way his hands were on her hips to guide her and they were close enough that they brushed together with each step they took, there was a distinctive sizzle in the air.

Maria placed either hand on his hips and allowed him to lead her around the floor in an elegant waltz, even letting him twirl and dip her as he pleased.

 _Alucard, what are you doing here?_ she asked.

He met her question with one of his own as she twirled back into his arms. _Why were you late?_

 _A renegade coven in Australia needed dealt with. You should have told me you were coming so I could give you your story to tell the humans._

 _You have been in the manor for less than five hours in the past three days._

 _That's no excuse. All you had to do was ask Puișor to send a message for you. Or call me. Or just use our connection to speak directly with me. Surely we're connected no matter how far I travel._

He leant down to brush his lips against her neck, and she hated her human body when it erupted in gooseflesh at the simple touch. She could feel his smirk at her throat.

 _Someone has erected an impressive block that I can't seem to penetrate,_ he whispered. _And as your king and groom, I refuse to resort to forms of communication reserved for the commoners. It's your own fault._

How tempting it was to just knee him in the crotch, even though she knew it wouldn't hurt him in the slightest. _If I remember correctly, it was_ you _who started this whole thing by blocking me out first. You're still doing it right now._

 _Tell me, do you always wear such captivating clothes when you attend these things? Because I'll make a habit of attending them if so._

His long fingers ghosted over a bit of creamy thigh peeking out of the dress as they swirled around the floor. With a coy smile she took his hand and returned it to her hip.

 _I make it a point, yes. I can all but enthrall the men when I'm in this dress. Is the reason you're not answering my questions that you're too absorbed with my figure?_

He chuckled, his bright blue eyes twinkling with mirth. _It is one reason, yes._

His lips were on hers in the next moment in a soft, loving kiss that she didn't know what to do with. They slowed almost to a standstill as they shared the sweetest kiss Maria could ever recall, his hand caressing her cheek as he pulled her even closer.

 _Independence,_ she reminded him even as she positively melted into him. His cool touch was igniting a perilous fire within her, one that would certainly reduce her to ash if she allowed it to burn any brighter.

 _Yes, but there are some areas where a union is necessary._ His deep baritone was dripping with implication as his shadows snuck up to invisibly drag across her breasts.

She pulled away from him with a laugh just as the song ended. Giving him a patient smile she brushed aside a lock of hair and leaned forward to whisper against the shell of his ear, "My sweet king, last I checked you still had a right hand."

If she had to choose one word to summarize his expression before he put back on his standard mask of indifference, it would be wrathful.

But the music had started anew, this time with a lively foxtrot, and she allowed herself to be swept away by some American senator. She knew that he would never let such a disrespectful comment slide, but it had been _so_ satisfying to see his unbridled rage even if only for a moment.

Besides, it had been necessary. As she kept up a steady chat with her new dance partner her mind kept going back to the warmth in those blue eyes, the unabated tenderness of his actions. It had all been a part of his act as her philanthropic fiance and nothing more, but her sentimental human heart had reacted so vociferously that she feared it couldn't distinguish between fantasy and reality. Alucard was a monster—even if he did hold some sort of preference for her, his true affections would never take such a rosy form. She couldn't afford to make such a mistake.

He was still enraged with her by the time the party wound down and people began trickling back to their hotels, as evidenced by the way he seemed to vanish for a long portion of the night. Maria wondered if he had stepped out to shoot something in the hopes of alleviating his anger. As the party ended and she began thanking everyone for their hospitality, a smidgen of dread began to wriggle about in the pit of her stomach. She had toyed with the No-Life King before, but she had a feeling that she had perhaps overstepped some invisible line with her actions tonight.

"Let's get back home," he said with a warm smile, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "It's nearing sunrise."

With a few more farewells the two of them were escorted into a waiting taxi. The two of them rode in absolute silence, backs ramrod straight and staring forward. Both were staying in character for now, but Maria had the distinct impression that she was in the eye of the storm. In the center of Munich they got out and immediately his gloved hand seized her bicep in a vice grip.

" _You,_ " he spat as he sneered in her face, "will not disrespect me like that again."

His eyes had returned to their usual ruby red and glinted like daggers. It was only natural to be a little unnerved, but she smiled and whisked them back to Hellsing manor and her chambers. More—she needed him more agitated with her so he would have no desire to give her that kind smile that threatened to sever her heartstrings one by one.

"What was so disrespectful about what I said? It was a mere observation. You drew the wrong conclusion."

He gripped her arm so fiercely it would take only a twitch for the bone to shatter and he shoved her against the stone wall ruthlessly, nearly knocking the air from her lungs.

"You're testing me," he observed in a hiss. "Do you truly think I'll let you do anything you want?"

"Oh, I already know how much I can get away with," she bluffed, and when she ran her warm hand over his crotch she was rewarded with a hiss and a wanting swell beneath her fingers. "You crumble at my touch."

He smacked her hand away with a snarl and his teeth had become row upon row of jagged shark's teeth. He had transformed from the king to the surly prince she had known in her childhood, his youthful features twisted in rage. Long black locks twisted around her limbs like constrictors and a fiery madness blazed in his eyes.

But Maria didn't back down—she knew that she hadn't broken him yet. Close enough that their noses were touching, she whispered with a self-satisfied smirk, "You _hate_ that I hold this power over you."

"I will rip it from you," he vowed lowly. "I'll stop your wicked heart and watch the light fade from your eyes until you are nothing but a cold husk."

She just fixed him with a bored look. "Very spooky. I'm terrified."

His fingers were wrapped around her neck now, crushing her windpipe. Her lungs burned and her eyes watered, but she continued to stare at him defiantly even as his fingers trembled with the effort of restraint.

 _You love me and you don't know what to do with those feelings, so you try to turn them into loathing,_ she stated through their connection, as she couldn't speak with his hand wrapped so tightly around her throat. _You tell yourself you hate me because I rekindled this inconvenient sentimentality within you, but let's face it—you hate yourself because you are still capable of such feeling._

"Silence," he all but roared, and the murderous look in his eye truly did strike terror in her heart. This was no longer a mere squabble; she had turned this into a war. "I will tolerate this churlishness no more. Everything you have, everything you have achieved has all been thanks to my magnanimity. I can see that I've spoiled you. Perhaps it's time to realign."

The hand that had been holding her arm went to the top of her head where he tugged at her shadows and they gave like dough before a chuck tore off in his hand. The instant that handful of shadow broke away she felt the blue fire of his presence within her vanish. The void it left in its wake was identical to the one she had felt when he had vanished on the battlefield thirty years ago, and though he was still standing in front of her and her face was turning blue due to his stranglehold, she was frantic at the thought of losing him.

 _No, not this,_ she begged instantly. The gaping maw in her heart that he had created was beckoning the madness that had possessed her the last time.

His smile was cutting, his laugh like shattered glass. "Yes, yes. I think this is fitting. Take some time to learn what a gift my presence is."

 _No, please. I can't—_ He hadn't been there to see exactly what had happened in the aftermath that night. He hadn't felt the insanity and malice consume her and turn her into a demoness. Alucard had been a part of her for as long as she could remember—without him she was dangerously destabilized.

"You have only yourself to blame for this," he said cruelly, and with that he vanished.

Without him pinning her to the wall she collapsed instantly, wracked with coughs and sobs. With her third eye she knew him to be in his chambers mere meters away from her, yet her mind couldn't reconcile that with the void where their connection had once been. It was as though he had also robbed her of her senses—she could no longer determine what was real and what wasn't. The only thing she knew was that she had lost something more essential than air.

Pain racked her, radiating from the hole in her soul that he had so ruthlessly carved out. Sensing her distress as she curled into a ball on the flagstones, both of her familiars materialized and attempted to curl up around her protectively, but she swatted them away. There was only one touch that could rid her of this agony.

* * *

Alucard immediately collapsed in his chair at the table, clutching at his dead heart that felt as though it were being gnawed upon by Maria's parasitic shadows. He had expected to feel something when he severed the connection between the two of them—relief, perhaps—but never had he imagined it would bring him such discomfort.

In forty-six short years, how had she become such an enormous part of him? She had slowly but surely infested him like a plague and only now was he able to see the damage she had inadvertently wrought. A small piece of her had inhabited him for long enough that it had well and truly wormed deep down into his soul and ripping it out so rashly had been unwise.

How many sleepless days had he spent wandering the troves of her mind, intrigued by each turn and the new discovery it presented? How many times had he flitted in and out of her head to see how she reacted to his crueler actions and other stimuli? Surely it numbered in the millions. She had been his diversion from the ennui of eternity for longer than he had realized.

These past three decades he had not been able to truly connect with her but her presence had always been at his back, warm and radiant. She had unwittingly become his rock. Of course he felt the urge to heed his master's order to return to her, but first and foremost during his time in Limbo he had craved every aspect of his bride. From her fiery disobedience to her angelic smile, her wit to her stupid kindness, he wanted it all. He would gladly have fought his way through the masses until the world ended if it meant he would get a glimpse of her once more.

Returning to see her stronger and more beautiful than he could have imagined had filled him with such eagerness to turn her that he had had to resist taking her in her sleep. Her warmth was enough to cause him to combust, her voice the most melodious sonnet. She could have asked him to carve out his own heart and he would likely get halfway through before questioning why.

He had known for quite some time that his affections ran far deeper for her than they had for any other person, but he had also thought that he was able to keep those triflesome emotions secured and contained behind an icy wall that guarded his intellect and reasoning. He should have known that she would burn through that too.

The sinking suspicion that his feelings for her were rampant had been growing ever since his return. He was possessive by nature and had never liked it when she strayed too far from headquarters without him. Her youth and frailty were what he thought to be the main source of this apprehension, but now that Maria was neither young nor weak the logic fell short. He could hardly sleep without her soft breaths and heat at his side and spent the majority of her time away spying on her and what she was doing.

He thought it had reached a peak when he watched her nearly die to defeat those three hinns in the Americas. Consumed by the fear that she would be taken away from him so shortly after their reunion, he had watched her writhe and vomit her viscera in horror. She recovered, but he still was barely over the shock of almost losing her.

However, he came to find the real apex a few nights ago when she had so effortlessly reduced him to a quivering excuse of a monster with a mere hand and whisper. He was by no means averse to carnal relations with Maria—it had been one of the things he most looked forward to upon his return to her. But until now everything they did between the sheets was for mere pleasure. There was no emotion attached to it other than want. This was why he had been repulsed by himself when he had reached climax so instantly at her words. He hadn't been excited by the image it had conjured in his mind; no, it was the idea of merging with her body and soul, of claiming her as his in every possible sense, that had brought him over the edge.

It had been days since then, and yet he still yearned for it more than he did for blood. When he had first laid eyes on her from across the ballroom that night it had taken every shred of willpower he possessed not to immediately ravish her in front of all the humans. She was the embodiment of everything his queen should be, graceful and gorgeous yet cunning and deadly. How he had lasted nearly half a millennium without her existence he couldn't fathom.

Upon realizing just how deeply his feelings had been warped by her and her warmth he had been overcome with the need to right himself, to return to the cold indifference he had worn like armor since childhood. In a moment of rash indecision he had told her they needed distance when it was the last thing either of them wanted, and now he needed her to submit to him once more. His soul was clamoring for her, but he would sooner die than go back on his word in such a disgraceful way.

He had decided to use his mask of innocent human to get closer to her and break down the walls she had so stubbornly erected. Using her human sentimentalities and the love he knew she harbored for him seemed the easiest way to accomplish this goal, but she had thwarted his attempts with impertinence he couldn't brook.

But their emotions had gone to their heads. Neither of them could remain logical where the other was concerned. He had been dangerously close to strangling the life out of her just now and she was content to continue provoking him. Action needed to be taken to right this imbalance, and he had done so, but now he wasn't so sure he had made the right decision. He needed a way to remind her of her bounds and he needed a way to establish his own, but he hadn't expected it to pain him so much.

With his third eye he was able to peer through the stone walls and into Maria's chamber where she was curled into herself on the floor, not moving at all. Her two familiars were pacing around her in distress and her shadows were sprawled out around her like some great poisoned beast, sluggishly undulating tentacles ridden with half-lidded and lazy eyes. He knew from his own experience that anyone who came too close would be ripped apart by them before they even realized what had happened.

Reflexively he reached out to see what was going on in her mind but was met with only a cold void where their connection had once been. It was like he was walking through snow and his foot had broken into icy water hidden beneath, jarring and unpleasant. His fingers dug into the armrest and he had to resist the urge to go to her, to restore their connection and end this hell.

Not yet. She needed to beg him, to suffer until she nearly broke so she would never forget his authority again.

* * *

It could have been seconds or it could have been weeks since Alucard had vanished. Maria was still curled up on the floor and she had no desire to move. She had no desire to do anything except disappear to wherever Alucard had gone, but she knew that he didn't want her to follow him. She had taken it too far this time.

Her phone rang by the bed and Puișor brought it to her, but she didn't even bother to open her eyes. It didn't matter who was contacting her or what calamity had befallen the rest of the world.

"Hello? My Queen? Hello?" Puișor had answered the phone and she could hear a man's voice on the other end. When she remained silent the man said, "We're here at the Smith Building in L.A. and the final preparations have been completed. What's your ETA?"

The anti-terrorism mission. She had forgotten that she had planned to head the team of six trusted vampires. Casting her eyes to the irritatingly bright screen with utter loathing, she said quietly, "Good. I'll be there in one minute."

"We eagerly await your arrival."

The call ended and Maria rose to her feet, her fingers trembling and her shadows dancing around her as though they were drunk. She simultaneously felt like vomiting and slaughtering the first moving thing she saw.

Her white dress melted into a more neutral sweater dress and her sword appeared at her back, though she had no intention of using it. Tonight, she would be using her hands and teeth. She wanted to feel their lives drip between her fingers and down her throat. Perhaps that would help to stuff this aching pit within her.

"Suflețel, come," she beckoned with an outstretched hand.

The kitten gave her a misgiving look. _You're not well,_ she seemed to say.

"I will be better once I've ripped out their hearts," she growled.

Still looking uncertain but forever obedient to her master, Suflețel changed into the shadowy leopard and Maria threw a leg over her back. In a moment they were in the building in question on the topmost floor, which consisted of a massive and opulent office. Her six men were all standing at the ready in tactical gear, guns in their hands. Though they were vampires they prefered to use modern weapons, which didn't bother Maria at all.

When she slid off Suflețel, her eyed shadows enveloping her like a miasma, all six vampires' eyes grew wide in alarm. They immediately knelt before her, but Maria waved her hand for them to rise impatiently.

"Have the cameras been disabled?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Good. There's been a change of plans. Your services are no longer necessary."

"M-my Lady," one of them objected, daring to look up at her with a bewildered expression, "your missive stated that we were to aid you in—"

The very idea that this vampire would dare question her made her shadows swirl about agitatedly and it was only with a forceful thought that she was able to keep from snapping his neck. "And it has changed," she hissed. "Begone."

All vampires knew of her wrath, seldom seen but a horror to behold. She had made sure from the beginning to temper tales of her kindness and sensibility with a shade of madness lest the vampires think she was soft. It had clearly been an effective campaign, as none of the vampires before her were brave enough to raise their voices again and swiftly phased back to their covens or wherever else they had come from.

Suflețel watched as Maria stood absolutely still in the center of the now empty room. The brunette was waiting patiently, her third eye casting through all forty floors of the building in search of the terrorists. They would infiltrate the building in about five more minutes with the intent of planting explosives to detonate the following business day during maximum occupancy, but Maria didn't intend to let them take more than ten paces before she was bathing in their blood.

She felt as though her shadows were carrying her off the ground, as though the banal human constructs of walls and floors no longer applied to her. She looked at her rubbery hand to make sure that it was indeed still attached, as she had lost sensation. The noise of static or perhaps crashing waves was thunderous—it was the only thing she could take in. Had she fallen into the maw? Was she at the bottom of the abyss of her soul right now? Was that why it was so hard to feel?

A band of twelve heavily armed men in black had came in through one of the basement supply doors. Maria's pale skin pulled tight over a fanged grin that promised chaos and then she melted through the floors to the basement.

These poor humans had no idea what they were in for.

She must have been like some horrific mirage to them at first, drifting out of the ceiling and to the floor and enshrouded in unruly all-seeing shadows that all gaped at them hungrily, her curls obscuring all but her fanged smile. They shot at her as they screamed, but the bullets were eaten up by her voracious shadows as she laughed.

Their despair, their pain—it wafted through the air like the smells of a feast. She wondered if she would be able to taste it as well.

The first one she grabbed by the head and sank her fangs into viciously, nearly beheading him. His warm blood spurted everywhere as he gurgled and seized, and Maria let out a soft groan of ecstasy as the silky, rich essence ran down her throat. With each beat of his rapidly fluttering heart she was rewarded with another rush of his pain and fear that seasoned the blood to make it all the more succulent. It was so different from the medical blood she had drunk for years, cold and flavorless. Even a live vampire's blood couldn't compare to this delicacy. She understood now. She understood why some vampires would drink from humans even if it were forbidden. It was worth any punishment to have a taste.

The next soldier she threw bodily into the wall and heard his bones shatter upon impact. She would drink from him in a bit. Next she thrust her hand right through another man's stomach and ripped out his intestines before tearing him open like a present. His screams were loud enough she could hear them over the ocean and her grin grew wider.

"A monster! You're a monster!" one of them squealed as he backed away, abject despair on his face. The others were running for the double steel doors they had come from, but with a wave of a reddened hand the doors were sealed with a power no human could hope to overcome. Still they tried, dashing themselves against the steel in the vain hope that they could crash through it and to their salvation.

She made her way toward them with unhurried, calm steps, blood dripping from her fingers and chin to leave a trail in her wake.

"Oh, I'm no monster," she whispered, and her shadows shot out to twist around one of the men's legs, dragging him inexorably closer to her as he whimpered and screamed for mercy. She wrapped her long fingers around his neck and whispered in his ear, "I'm the goddess of chaos."

And then with her other hand she reached into his chest and took his still-pulsing heart into her palm. She ripped it out as the last of the light died in his eyes and devoured it unabashedly. It was warm and tender, nothing like the disgusting gerent's she had eaten earlier. Blood gushed out with each bite and dribbled down her chin and front but she was too lost in her victuals to mind. Once finished, she dragged her fingers up her chest and neck and licked them clean, closing her eyes to savor it a bit longer.

The others she killed in a similar fashion until the only sound in the entire building was that of tearing flesh as she consumed the rest of their hearts. With each swallow she could feel their warmth and vitality seeping into her and filling up the hollow within her ever so slightly. Perhaps if she could find a few hundred more humans she could return to normal…

As she lapped the blood from her fingers indulgently she became aware of another presence in the room: her familiar sat staring up at her with a scrutinizing expression.

 _Dismember all the freaks you want, but humans are different,_ the cat said, quoting Maria's order from long, long ago.

The brunette laughed softly. "These were just dogs."

She called the vampires from before to tell them that she was finished and to clean up, and before they could arrive Suflețel took her back to Hellsing. A cursory glance in the mirror revealed a ghastly, blood-soaked creature she couldn't recognize, but the cold abyss within her seemed to be expanding and pressing on her lungs, making it unpleasant to breathe and think. Her sword still strapped to her back she simply lay down on the bed and sank into the black immediately.

* * *

 **A/N:** Uh-oh spaghettios.


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N:** Welcome to Chapter 25. Enjoy.

* * *

Suflețel cast her master a wary glance as she collapsed. She was still breathing and heart still beating. This was slumber. Assured that she would stay in this state for at least an hour and that Puișor was watching over her in the meantime, the hellbeast walked through the wall and into the mate's chambers. He sat in his chair, fingers steepled beneath his chin. Was he asleep too?

Upon her approach the vampire's red eyes flashed opened and he fixed it with a bored look. "What do you want?" he asked it.

Suflețel had been with her master for three decades now. It was but a moment for her, who had been born when there was no concept of time. She had served many different masters until now, but none had been like this bewitching creature. As a monster of shadow and decay, she thrived on sorrow and pain regardless of the source, but seeing her master so broken and harrowed in turn made her distressed. A beast like herself could only create chaos, not abate it. And so she had come to the one being who could do so.

The kitten hopped onto his lap and pressed an inky black paw to his chest, imparting her memories of today's carnage. Suflețel could not understand the petty machinations and yearnings of the creatures of this plane, but she had come to understand her master. A rare creature—one that Suflețel had seen but a few times in her long existence—that was neither man nor monster but a shade of both. She had the potential for evil but chose to walk a nobler path, and the majority of her darker deeds she had committed for show and subjugation.

But what she had done today was purely beastly. There had been no shred of humanity or goodness within her. This ravenous demon intent on devouring all around it was not her master.

The kitten watched as the vampire's red eyes grew wide in startle when the memories flashed through his consciousness. Whatever he had thought would happen when he severed their bond, it hadn't been this.

"Why?" he demanded. "I have removed my monstrous aspect within her. She should become purer."

This simpleton. Did he understand nothing?

She hissed at him. _You didn't remove, you ripped. Something she has depended on since her beginning is suddenly gone and her soul desperately hunts a replacement. A balance._

He had understood her, and yet was unchanged. "And how is this my problem?"

Suflețel cared not for this aloofness that the creatures of this plane were addicted to. There was no hiding anything from a monster that had seen all there was to see starting from when the world was just a cold, desolate blackness. She saw that the bond he shared as mate ran deeper than most and that tearing it out so recklessly had wounded his soul as well. He had no choice but to contain it due to the chains his master had locked around him, but he was as broken as she.

 _Fix this, or my master will not survive._

"Maria isn't so weak as to die from a broken heart," he scoffed.

Her needle-like claws dug into his chest and she felt satisfaction as pricks of his blood welled up. _She will be killed by your master when she breaks the rules. She has developed a taste for human suffering._

Hesitation flickered in his eyes for a moment and she knew that her truths were just beginning to sink through his thick skull. But he still said, "She cannot go against an order. It's impossible."

 _The human trusts her too much. She has not been issued the same commands as you. You must act quickly to restore the bond._

The vampire gave Suflețel a doubtful glare. "And if I don't?"

 _She will fill the wound you created with filth and all will have been for naught._

"You would profess to know her better than I?" He radiated cold indignation. "I, who has been a part of her all her life? I, who has taught her everything she knows?"

Prideful and oafish. Why her master was so woefully attached to this flawed creature she would never understand.

 _You gave her a seed that she nurtured with my help,_ she corrected. _It was thanks to me, the bird, and her own innate composition that she has accomplished what she has. Surely you didn't teach her how to phase, or how to harness souls. Nor did you teach her how to split her soul and house the shards in all corners of the world. You didn't teach her how to beguile the mortals, either. The only thing you have imparted with her is a rot that she has managed to contain until now._

The vampire bared his fangs in an outraged snarl and swatted her away, but Suflețel gracefully leapt out of harm's way and onto the table, never taking her cold eyes from his.

 _You know I'm right,_ she said smugly. _Ask the dog if you are still in denial. It's as brutish as you are but still sees through souls as well as I and the bird._

There was nothing left to say, so she flitted through the wall and back to her master who was still motionless on the bed. Puișor perched on the back of a chair, watching its master intently. Suflețel alighted to the bed and changed into a panther so she could better warm her charge. In her sleep, Maria squirmed at the sudden appearance of warmth beside her and curled against her.

Suflețel gave a tired sigh into the human's curls. She had had countless masters over the centuries, but this master had been the first to give her a name, to confer something more than slavery upon her. She would sooner sacrifice herself than let this creature come to harm.

* * *

"Master, I would have a word."

Alucard had floated through the wall and into Sir Integra's office. The blonde leveled him with an icy glower at the sudden intrusion and set down her pen.

"And _I_ would like you to use the bloody doors," she ground out. "What do you want?"

"What orders have you given Maria?" he asked, his face the picture of boredom.

Sir Integra's gaze changed from angry to curious. "Why?"

He didn't want to divulge his bride's sudden change in temperament, not just yet. She still hadn't submitted properly to him. The fact of the matter was that he had been so startled by what Maria's familiar had shown him that he had gone to his master without properly formulating his thoughts. All he was certain of at this time was that he needed to know more. He had drifted through the centuries on a river of blood and atrocities and so had thought himself inured to carnage, but the image of Maria ripping into a warm human heart with such an animalistic grin had chilled him. He could not have a monster as queen.

"I've read all there is to read in her record room downstairs but there was no mention of the sigil," he said smoothely.

"Thinking of finding a loophole to overthrow me?" Integra asked with a teasing smirk. Alucard returned one in kind and his master said, "For all her powers she still retains the heart and soul of a human. Also, her duties require her to travel near and far and with such speed that neither of us can afford a meeting each time something arises. Therefore I have allotted her much more freedom than you."

Impatience threatened to show on his brow yet he managed to keep his expression placid. He didn't want vagueities. "And specifically what have you ordered her?"

"Why do you want to know?" she pressed, and Alucard cursed her shrewdness as he saw the glint of cogs turning behind her eyes.

"She can travel freely all over the world, whereas I have to ask to leave the grounds. I merely wondered where else you gave her preferential treatment," he lied silkily.

Still giving him a doubtful look, she picked up the phone on the edge of her desk and dialed Seras. Normally he would have found this amusing, as she had the ability to contact his fledgling telepathically and yet resorted to such a cumbersome and human mode of communication. Tonight was not the night for idle observations.

Seras arrived shortly with a worn leather-bound journal that appeared to have survived all manner of tumult and turmoil. She handed it to Sir Integra, offered a greeting to Alucard, and then bowed out of the room.

"This is the book my great-grandfather recorded all of your commands in," his master explained unnecessarily.

Alucard had seen this wretched book many moons ago, when he was recently broken and Van Hellsing was still working out the crude science of subjugating a monster. This book held the account of his experiments and their outcomes, of Alucard's suffering and shame. The first thing he would do upon his master's death and his release from his fetters would be to burn this book until not even cinders remained.

If Sir Integra percepted his rage at seeing the tome she brushed it off as she flipped nonchalantly through the worn and blood-splotched pages and towards the end where the handwriting changed from fountain pen to ballpoint. "These are your commands." The stretched on for several pages, a masterfully crafted cage of words that kept his master and her interests safe from his machinations. "And these are Maria's."

She turned the page to reveal only a few lines of her flowing cursive. "Do not knowingly do anything that will harm your master, her interests, or her allies." "Do not release your powers from their binds unless you and/or your master are at risk of destruction." "Do not lie to or otherwise mislead your master." Alucard had been given these three as well. "Eat and sleep at least once a week." He had never had need for such a command.

"This is all?" he asked, unable to keep an edge of incredulity out of his question. She could do practically anything she wanted with nothing but this paltry set of commands to hold her back.

Sir Integra smirked. "Jealous, are we? Maria isn't a monster as you are. I can trust her to make good decisions."

The petulant and vindictive part of him was tempted to tell his master exactly what her trusted servant had just got finished ravaging if only to see her faith shatter. He bit back on that impulse, however, and said instead, "In the final stages of the ritual she may have a difficult time controlling her more base urges. I recommend that you put a few more commands in place."

"Alucard," his master said, giving him a hard look, "it is not my duty to rein in your bride. Your responsibility as her sire is to keep her in check."

How was it that all of the women that surrounded him managed to test his patience so? He pointed out calmly, "I would endeavor to do so, but I cannot follow her with certain commands in place."

"Ah. In that case, I revoke your order to request permission to leave the Hellsing grounds. I also order that you may only leave the Hellsing grounds if it is to accompany Maria."

Alucard grinned. At least one good thing had come out of this. He didn't much care for the idea of playing Maria's keeper, as it would require a level of subterfuge he was no longer accustomed to. He would have to watch her from afar and be prepared to stay her hand if she appeared close to doing something regrettable, yet he would have to do so in a way that wouldn't undermine his authority or make her think that he was through proving his point and punishment.

"She has become quite proficient at phasing," he commented. "She does easily what most true vampires cannot." Before absorbing Schroedinger he would have found it a challenge himself.

"Her familiars transport her. Her body bears none of the burden."

Interesting. So his master seemed unaware that Maria had split her soul. When his queen had mentioned this feat he had been in such a rage that he had glossed over it, but with the damned cat's words also ringing in his ears he had recalled her admission. A regular vampire could not cross a body of flowing water, perhaps because the soul of a being that had become stationary in the stream of time couldn't bear fording the tides of something so brazenly flowing by. This was why he had taken a boat into London all those years ago. Alucard had since amassed enough souls that he could barter them like tolls and cross oceans with relative ease, though the price was steep. But now that he had the essence of that odd experiment within him, he could travel everywhere and nowhere on a whim. He could vanish to Timbuktu or to the peaks of Kilimanjaro, to the furthest reaches of space and time if he so chose.

But there was one other means for vampires to overcome these difficulties. He had thought of undertaking it long ago but upon learning the rigors of the ritual had forgone it. If a vampire had a piece of itself waiting on the other side of the body of water in question, it could ford it with no difficulty at all. With a certain knife of obsidian and a sizeable amount of determination, a vampire could cut into their soul and leave a sliver of it somewhere in the land of their choosing. This was fraught with unpleasantries, however. Firstly, excising a fragment of your existence no matter how small was an excruciating task. Secondly, if the vampire wasn't exact with the blade they ran the risk of fracturing the soul and wounding it beyond repair, which would result in a consuming madness. Also, once the fragment was successfully removed and placed upon the land of choosing, it must be exceptionally well-hidden. A baby bird without its shell or mother to shield it, it could swiftly be crushed into oblivion by an enemy and once destroyed could never be regrown. Much like how Maria had reacted in pain and perhaps insanity upon his removal of their connection, a vampire whose soul fragments had been destroyed would turn into a volatile shade bent on destruction.

Splitting the soul once was an agony unspeakable, but to have done it eight times was madness. Even more alarming was the fact that in order to do this all without their master's knowing she would have had to have made the fragments when she had released the seal's control on her power, when her entire soul was out of its cage and exposed—in other words, in the heat of battle.

How he longed to pick through her memories and see how she had done such a reckless thing without destroying herself.

Alucard bid his master adieu and drifted through the floor back to his chambers. A cursory look with his third eye revealed Maria to still be asleep on her bed, bloodsoaked and her sword still on her back. The hellcat was curled around her protectively as a great panther and the eagle was watching over them both from the table.

Loath as he was to admit it, the truth of the familiar's words had stung. He had thought of Maria as his creation, the one good thing to have come from his darkness, but he now realized that such was not the case. He had been gone too long, and during his absence she had blossomed into the beautiful woman she was without his aid. On the contrary, upon his return he had nearly ruined her by destroying their connection. He hoped that she would see sense soon and pay fealty to him so he could restore the bond.

As he drank from a glass of wine he mused over the hellcat's words. The beast hadn't once called her master a human the entire conversation and had referred to an "innate composition" that had allowed her to become so powerful. What had it meant?

At his beckoning the hellhound appeared before him, its six red eyes glowing as it inclined its head.

 _What does Maria's familiar speak of?_ he asked it. _It talks about her as though she isn't human._

The hellhound sat down and in a gravelly voice said, _She is and she is not._

This was the problem with familiars—being not of this world they weren't the best at conversation or clarity. It was a reason why he seldom bothered to talk with his other than to give it orders.

 _Is it because of me?_

 _It is and it is not._

Alucard growled in frustration. _Then what is her composition?_

 _Human and non-human. Alive and dead. Light and shadow._

The No-Life King realized that this was a waste of time. All beings were essentially a combination of those things. _The cat would have me restore our connection lest Maria go mad with bloodfrenzy. What would you have me do?_

The hellhound gave him an inquisitive look. In the four hundred years they had been together its master had never asked for its opinion.

 _Do you desire a human or a monster as a mate?_

 _I can't have her as a human,_ he snapped.

 _Act now and she will forever retain a portion of humanity, the one that you cast away so quickly. Linger and she will become a true monster that will rival you in madness and cruelty._

Through the hellcat's memories he had seen what Maria had done in this state, but it was so at odds with the girl who had once cowered in terror at the sight of him slaughtering a few humans that his mind simply couldn't reconcile it. Was it possible for her to succumb to the darkness? He had thought that because she accepted his darkness so easily while retaining her compassion that she was impervious to the warping claws of monstrosity, that if he removed his tainted presence from her mind that she would only grow purer. How wrong he had been.

The cat had said that Maria had changed because her soul sought a balance, but why would it seek such a thing? In her blood coursed a mixture of both vampire and human blood and even without their link should have provided an equilibrium. "Balance" implied that her vampirism and humanity were two parts of a whole, which despite the amount of the vampire blood she had shouldn't have been the case. Until the ritual was complete and she had joined the Night, her soul should have remained wholly human except for the small bit of his own that had attached to hers to establish their connection.

Unless…

Alucard dispelled the notion nearly as quickly as it had appeared. It was unheard of. A ghost story told by ghosts. Besides, he would have noticed long ago.

His familiar gave him a long look but said nothing as it faded into the ether.

* * *

Maria awoke with her arms wrapped around Suflețel, crusted brown blood causing her to stick to her pillow and blankets. Wondering if anyone had been in her chambers and seen, she vanished her sword and all evidence of her earlier indiscretion. Explaining this to Sir Integra would be less than optimal.

There was a dull burn in her throat and stomach signaling her thirst. She summoned a packet of blood from the kitchens, but a draught of the cold and flavorless liquid did nothing to quench her appetite. The warmth and richness that the humans' terror had brought were all Maria could think about. She longed to taste it again. The black maw within her seemed to have lessened if only slightly and it was still raw and sore. Her chest felt as though the muscle and bone would tear away at the slightest touch.

She changed into a different white dress and then addressed the small pile of letters on her table. Tonight she had the American Congressional Ball to attend, but it wouldn't be for another several hours. In the meantime she wrote a detailed but altered mission report from the previous night, one for her records and one for the Americans. An execution had been requested in Mexico so she would occupy her downtime with that. Perhaps a good flaying would help fill this ravenous wound.

The ring on her finger glinted as she swept her curls up and she stopped to look at the jewels. How could merely looking at something feel so painful? Her chest constricted at the sight of this token that was nothing more than that. She had waited so long and so patiently for him, had worked so hard to give him a kingdom, and he had rewarded her by tearing a hole in her and demanding that she grovel like a dog before him.

Maria would forever remain loyal to him, as she knew it was her destiny to walk beside him and, unpredictable and cruel as he could be, she loved so many other aspects of him that she would never be able to bear separation.

However, while she was true to him in every sense, she also had pride and self-worth enough not to fall to his every whim. He had told her long ago that he had wanted her to rule alongside him, not beneath him. He had also known that she had a knack for using her words as weapons against him when it was necessary, so why he chose now to erupt was lost on her.

Maria had accused him of loving her and in doing so had struck upon the very core of his recent turmoil. Like a wounded animal he had attacked and ripped out their connection in retaliation. He wanted her to break, to come weeping to him like a weak human girl and beg him to use his power to make her whole once more.

But she wasn't going to apologize for saying something true, and she wasn't going to beg. Even if it felt like she could go mad from the loss. Maria understood him better than anyone else; she knew that he had no intention of ending the ritual or he would have killed her or stolen back all of the power he had given her. She also knew that he would hate not being able to pick her mind at his every convenience. Combing through her thoughts had long been his favorite hobby, and especially now that he wanted to know how she felt about him and this argument he would be even more anxious to read her mind.

Alucard would cave. She was certain.

Until then, she just had to go about life as she had in his absence. She didn't need him to hold her hand and fight her battles for her.

Her updo complete and crown resting regally on her head, she spun around once before the mirror. The floor-length silk dress was in cream and was stunning in its simplicity. It fit snugly to her curves, accentuating them tastefully and guaranteeing all eyes would be on her tonight.

She walked through the wall and into Alucard's chambers. He sat with his back to her at the table and she could see a half-empty glass of wine on the armrest, his gloved fingers wrapped loosely around the stem. Though he gave no acknowledgement of her arrival she knew that he sensed her.

"There's an important ball in America tonight and you've been invited as my plus one," she told him in a business-like fashion. "The clothes you wore last time will be suitable."

"And where are you going in the meantime?" he asked.

"I've got a small matter to attend to in Mexico and then I'll go to the ball."

It was excruciating to see him and yet be unable to touch him. The hole in her heart was a giant mouth screaming for him, yet she turned around to return to her chambers.

"Maria," he said, and she stilled instantly, cursing the way her pathetic heart leapt in hope and delight at hearing her name on his lips. "How was the mission in California with the Turkish humans?"

Did he know? Unless he had spied on her he couldn't have known what had happened, though he had almost certainly seen her bloodsoaked homecoming. She smiled and said simply, "They were just dogs."

"Did you enjoy it?" His voice was devoid of all inflection, almost clinical. He could have been asking about the weather.

"You told me I'd come to revel in the massacre," she said plainly, "and you were right. Will there be anything else?"

Wordlessly he waved a hand to shoo her away, and the hole within her gave a groan of anguish. Did he feel it too? Was his heart trying to break out of its cage of flesh as well?

She turned back around to walk through the wall and she had one leg through the stone when he spoke again.

"Ti-e sete?" he asked.

Her throat was parched as a desert and her stomach was in knots, as though it were trying to wring out every last remnant of her previous meals. Surely his blood would be like a downpour on withered fields, a rejuvenating spring.

But if she touched him, drank from him and felt his essence filling her anew, would it improve or worsen this ache?

After a moment's hesitation, she admitted softly, "Da."

Alucard rolled up the sleeve of his white shirt to reveal his forearm and Maria watched enraptured as a cut opened at his wrist and a trail of rubies dripped down and onto the flagstones.

She forced herself to walk unhurriedly to him and lapped at the blood, dragging her tongue up from the point where the rivulets converged to fall together and to the wound itself. It was a challenge not to let out a sigh of relief as his taste filled her senses and—if only briefly—calmed the writhing of the living gash inside her. Alucard watched her drink with an unreadable expression, and how Maria longed to know what he was thinking. Why offer her this kindness so soon after casting her away? It had been less than twenty-four hours.

It was a few minutes until his wound closed and her sustenance vanished. Maria rose to her full height from her stooped posture and gave him a probing looking, but his marble features gave nothing away.

"Would you like me to return the favor?" she asked presently.

He inclined his head in a silent nod and she held out her arm for him as he had, dragging a shadowy finger over her wrist to create a slit. His gloved hand wrapped around her forearm to bring the offering to his waiting lips and she held her breath as his long tongue trailed up to the source. His cool touch left her tingling and her shadows were writhing behind her mutinously, begging to go to his and meld together but she forced them back into her silhouette.

Alucard sucked from her in complete silence, his eyes sliding closed as if in rest. He only drank for a few moments before he drew away. It might have been wishful thinking on her part, but Maria thought that his hand lingered on her arm slightly longer than necessary.

Souls trickled out from between the cracks of the seals to close the wound and she took a step away from him before asking, "Will that be all?"

"Yes." He didn't even bother to look at her, staring straight ahead and down the table toward the closed door.

Maria phased back to her room where both of her familiars were waiting. Suflețel was staring up at her from the bed furtively.

 _He is a simpleton,_ she told Maria.

 _In some areas, yes,_ the brunette chuckled.

 _He causes you both to suffer needlessly. Why?_

Maria could only shrug. _He's an arrogant asshole who can't admit when he's wrong._

The cat shook its head and stretched before alighting from the bed. _You mortals are all so bewildering. Even you, despite your makeup._

 _What does my mascara have to do with this?_ Maria asked as her shadows enveloped them and swept them away to the head coven in Mexico.

 _Perhaps his stupidity is catching,_ was all her familiar said in return.

The flaying did little to improve Maria's mood, though she did feel a bit better afterwards. Alucard's blood seemed to have helped her feel a bit more like herself. She no longer had the sensation of floating and her sense of touch had mostly returned. The hole within her was still calling to be filled, however, and she wondered what exactly she had to do to appease it.

After the flaying and impalement and making sure she had erased all traces of blood from her body she went to Washington, D.C. for the ball. When she emerged from the taxi in front of the elegant hall Alucard was waiting for her, his arm crooked in a gentlemanly fashion. The way his blue eyes crinkled with the kind smile he wore was more painful than any knife. But if he could put on a show for all of the humans so could she. With a matching grin she locked her arm in his and strolled into the ball.

It was wrong, not being able to keep up a mental conversation with him. Generally whenever they were near each other they were in some form of dialogue, whether it was poking fun at the people around them or talk of their mission. Maria felt nervousness trickle down her spine like cold water. She simply couldn't trust him to behave himself and answer all of the questions correctly.

Though she was highly reluctant to do so, she had no choice but to tear down the wall she had built to keep him from her thoughts.

 _We need to communicate in case you don't know how to answer a question,_ she told him.

 _Agreed._ His low voice came across inflectionless and it felt as though she were talking to a statue, devoid of all emotion. Without their proper connection she could only hear his thoughts and none of the feelings attached to them. She had always thought that he kept his emotions from her, but now she realized that she had always been able to glean some in the tone of his voice. She lamented the loss and wondered if her voice sounded as mechanical.

They were met with the same sort of fanfare as their last outing, bombarded with questions and introductions and food that neither of them wanted. As the hours slowly dragged on she could feel the hole in her begin to squirm and her stomach burned with both hunger and discomfort at eating human food her body could no longer handle. She should have drunk more before coming in order to counteract it.

"If you'll excuse me for a moment," she smiled and extricated her arm from Alucard's to head to the bathroom where she returned all of the hors d'oeuvres.

 _What's wrong?_

 _If it's not an apple or plain wheat bread I can't have it,_ she answered. _What do you do with the food?_

 _The taste is unpleasant, but it doesn't affect me._

Maria envied him. All food had lost flavor for her several years ago so she couldn't even enjoy the taste of these fancy little cracker ensembles.

 _Return to me. An idiot is jabbering about some policy I don't care about._

She checked herself in the mirror and rushed back with a smile, thereby saving the vampire from what would have been a long and dull discussion about tax reform. Presently the Secretary of Defense found her and jubilantly offered a toast in her name. He seemed to have drunk his fair share already, judging by the rosy color of his cheeks.

He clapped Alucard on the back hard as he laughed and Maria would have giggled had she not felt like her chest was about to burst. "So you're the lucky dog that she chose! Has he been properly vetted? Can we trust him with you?"

Maria laughed and smiled up at her groom, who despite his placid expression was likely imagining a hundred different ways to mangle this boisterous man who had dared engage him like they were old chums. "He's the only man I trust," she told the Secretary. "And let me assure that I'm the lucky one that he chose."

"Well, best watch out," he said, leaning in closer to Alucard. Maria could see the No-Life King twinge for the briefest moment at the physical contact. Oblivious to this, the human whispered loudly in his ear, "She's tough enough to take down an army of monsters on her own, I've heard."

"That comes as no surprise—she defeated me easily enough," he replied, and unable to stand another second of the clingy human he nodded in parting and dragged Maria onto the dancefloor into an effortless foxtrot.

"You're doing surprisingly well," he whispered.

"What do you mean? I do this for a living."

"Not the niceties. I thought you'd have come begging me to restore the connection by now."

She looked up to see him smirking down at her haughtily, but in his crimson gaze was a shrewd glint.

"I could say the same for you. Does it hurt, not having me with you?"

"My time spent with you has been but a small fraction of my time on this earth. It changes little."

She knew his words to be false, and yet it still felt like he had ran her through with his sword. The flicker of intrigue in his eye told her that he had said it to get a rise out of her, so she mustn't let it bother her.

"That's a relief," she smiled, though she couldn't seem to stop the trembling in her fingers.

"And how does it feel for you?" he asked, a knowing and sadistic smirk curling his lips.

Maria wasn't sure whether it was best to feign indifference or be sincere. "Like there's a great mouth inside gnashing its teeth and starving for anything to fill the void."

"You know what you need to do to fix it."

But she didn't. Of course she understood that Alucard wanted her to admit that his presence and generosity were a blessing she was unworthy of. She refused to do such a stupid thing, which meant that she would have to find some other way to patch over this wound until he came to his senses and restored their connection.

"Kiss me," she whispered.

He looked taken aback for a mere moment, but then his fake human smile was in place again and he leaned down to brush his chilled lips against hers. When he seemed about to pull away Maria pressed forward once more, opening her mouth and inviting him in. Despite the way he had his arms around her holding her to him as though they were inseparable, his tongue danced about with hers in a languid, lifeless way. It was the most lacklustre and pitiful kiss she'd ever had.

But she wasn't going to stop yet. Maria wanted him to long for her more. She beckoned her shadows to break free of her silhouette and slink to his and when they met electricity sizzled through her, silencing the groans from the hole. Alucard must have felt it as well because he gave a soft but sharp intake of air into the kiss.

 _Maria,_ he growled, and she was delighted to realize that she could feel his irritation so long as their shadows were touching.

 _Yes?_ was her innocent reply as she pressed herself against him further, allowing him to feel all of her curves and warmth through their clothing.

His long fingers were wrapped around her waist and hand tightly and she could feel that he wanted simultaneously to pull away and never release her. His shadows which were always strictly controlled were fighting against their bonds, wanting to meld more completely with hers.

What are you doing? he demanded.

Just as the song ended she broke the kiss to give him a smile, emerald eyes smouldering with desire despite herself. When she retracted her shadows from his as well the wound that had finally simmered down thrashed about like a wild animal in a cage. The hunger was tenfold.

 _I just wanted to see if that would help fill the hole, but I was wrong._

His hold on her slackened, yet his blue gaze was sharp as he took in her quivering smile. He cautioned her, _It is unwise to let this wound fester._

 _I have no intention of doing so._

The two of them retreated from the dancefloor to engage in more networking for awhile longer. Drinks were pressed into their hands and policies discussed, meetings arranged.

After about the fifth flute of champagne Maria began to feel off. She was hot and cold all over, almost feverish, and her stomach was lurching uneasily. She excused herself to the restroom and Alucard watched her go, assuming she had had too much of the human food to eat again.

In the marble bathroom she locked herself into a stall and waited, but the nausea didn't subside. On the contrary the room seemed to be spinning and she leaned against the wall. Why was her mind so fuzzy? It was like there were clouds inside fogging up everything so her thoughts couldn't rise to the surface.

She tried reaching out to her familiars or to Alucard, but was met with only silence. How was that possible? Her familiars were a part of her—they should always be able to hear their master's voice no matter the distance.

The stall door opened and she swirled around, nearly losing her footing in the process. A gorgeous woman with raven black hair, a lavish crimson dress and matching red eyes stood with a delighted open-mouthed grin, as though she had just received the best gift possible.

"His Majesty the Rajah requests your presence," she whispered.

Maria hissed and tried to summon her sword, but her shadows wouldn't listen to her. They were tar, miring her in futility.

"No, no. No need for violence, my lady. Just come with me."

The brunette felt a sharp pain in her chest and the next moment the world turned black.

* * *

It had been five minutes since Maria had left his side and still she hadn't returned. Was she wasting more time talking with another stupid human?

 _Return to me,_ he commanded her.

But there came no reply. This was unlike her. Even at her most irascible moments she answered his words. Her behavior tonight had been unlike usual, but somehow he felt in his gut that this wasn't right.

"Excuse me," he said curtly, leaving the small group of Congressmen to head to the restrooms.

His shadows stretched invisibly across the floors, scanning for any sign of her presence. They came up with nothing, but that wasn't necessarily bad. Constantly hounded by the Turks she had long ago learned to conceal her energy at all times. She was but a ghost to all but the most perceptive beings. Even Alucard had to strain his third eye to find her when she wanted to stay hidden.

He floated invisibly through the wall and into the women's restroom to find it empty but for one human inspecting herself in the mirror. Peering into the stalls revealed nothing and a hollow sort of coldness began to roll about his gut.

 _Maria, where are you?_ he demanded.

Silence.

No matter how hurt or angry she was with him, Alucard was certain that she wouldn't run off in the middle of this important gathering, as droll as it was. He had long admired her because she could set aside her emotions and do whatever needed to be done, and tonight should have been no different. She would tolerate his unbearable closeness for the sake of their kingdom. She wouldn't flee.

But, a small voice in his head reminded him, she hadn't exactly been herself ever since he tore out their connection. Who was to say what she would do now? He was supposed to be keeping an eye on her and he couldn't do that if he didn't know where she was.

His hellhound appeared at his summons, invisible to the humans as its master was.

He asked it, "Where has she gone?"

It looked up at him with all six red eyes. _I know not._

"Fetch me the cat, then."

The dog vanished to reappear a mere second later with the black kitten and eagle in tow.

 _You idiot,_ the cat hissed at him immediately. _I specifically told you not to wait to restore the bond._

He was feeling sour enough as it was—if this arrogant little beast didn't curb its tongue he would crush it.

Staying his hand, he ground out, "Tell me where she is."

 _They have her, but they've taken her to a place neither I nor any other familiar can enter. The mistake they've made is grave._

"Who has taken her?" Alucard all but snarled.

 _Your oldest enemy._

The Turks. Of course it would be them. His return had shaken the vampire world and news of it had spread faster than hellfire, so of course they were aware. It had likely been why they had decided to make a bolder attack on the humans Maria had aligned with in an attempt to worsen her image and possibly kill her in the process. She had thwarted them so easily that it had stoked their ire, and now they were committed to starting a war.

And a war they would get. Alucard would see the world dyed in crimson, the sounds of wind and rain drowned out by screams of agony. He would crack open the earth, split it wide enough that the fires of Hell could spring up and devour what corpses he didn't.

They had taken everything from him. His rightful kingdom, his family, his humanity—all had been their spoils. On the morning he had joined the Night he had sworn an oath never to let them rob him of another thing, and he would keep that promise even if it meant disobeying his master.

He and the three familiars all phased back to Hellsing headquarters and directly into Sir Integra's office. She had been dozing of at her desk and leapt up, a gun in her hand and ready to fire.

"You absolute bastard!" she snarled. "How many times must I tell you to use the door, and to knock?"

"We have more serious issues," Alucard informed her, forgoing his usual insincere apologies. "Maria has been taken."

The rage on his master's wrinkled face melted into alarm. "Explain."

So he told her what little he knew. "Give me permission to go after them, to get her back."

Sir Integra frowned as she took in the No-Life King's wild visage. In his fervor he had unconsciously taken the form of the prince, and his usually short and tidy black hair was a wild mess like reeds in a whirlwind.

"I think I should send the Captain and Seras in your stead," she said slowly. "You're too unstable."

"No," he growled out. "It must be me."

The cat appeared beside him and looked to the blonde as it spoke to Alucard. _My master will not last long where they are holding her. She weakens._

Panic gripped the vampire with its icy hands, constricting his chest. "There is no time. No one alive or dead knows the enemy as well as I do. Send me now or she may never return, and I can promise you that if such a thing would happen not even your family's precious spells will protect the world from my wrath."

His master looked much older than usual. She rested her face in her hands for a moment that stretched on like eternity and when she looked up, there were more lines than before.

"Search and destroy," she ordered him. "Bring Maria back here in once piece."

A too-wide grin stretched across row upon row of fangs as he inclined his head reverently. "My master," he hissed in thanks, and the next moment he and the cat had vanished from the office.

* * *

Maria woke up in a darkness so complete that she briefly wondered if she had died. So absolute was the blackness that there was neither light nor sound. Her shadows were still odd and her head was full of mud, caking over her third eye and making her sluggish. She was powerless.

A voice suddenly rang out in the darkness, deep and booming. It was such a shock to her system that each syllable felt like a knife to her head.

"Welcome, bride of Alucard. We have restrained your powers for your own safety. Please wait patiently until His Majesty is ready to see you."

Maria opened her mouth to demand to know what was going on, how they had snuck this on her and how they were controlling her abilities so easily. But no sound would leave her lips no matter how hard she screamed.

"I'm afraid you're in a very special room made specifically for containing monsters like you. The darkness is a living being that exists in permanent starvation and eats anything that enters it. Lucky for you, it has no desire for flesh; it craves things we deem intangible like sound and light. Now make yourself comfortable and wait for His Majesty, if you'd be so kind."

The voice ceased and Maria sat down, though she couldn't feel the floor beneath her. Perhaps it was because of the lack of any and all sensation to distract her or because her powers were muzzled, but the pain in her chest had grown exponentially worse. It felt like some terrible beast had fallen into this pit in her soul and was desperately trying to claw its way out. She feared what would happen if it managed to escape.

Futilely she attempted to reach out to her familiars. She could feel the connection she had with them in her soul, small red embers that could warm her if she focused on them hard enough. There was a nearly invisible thread that stretched from their places in her heart that carried all the way to theirs, but tonight she couldn't find it. Somehow the Turks had cut her off from the outside world in ways she had never dreamed possible.

Walking around did nothing, as even if she fumbled against a door to freedom she wouldn't be able to feel it. How much time had passed she had no way of knowing. Had it been seconds or years? She was being held captive by vampires; they could leave her to rot in this place for decades before they bothered to speak to her.

With no powers to aid her and no way to call for help Maria had no choice other than to wait and hope that her familiars would be able to lead Alucard to her. The silence was playing tricks on her mind and she found herself scratching at her chest where the pain was building. The beast within was ripping into her, sinking its claws deep into her flesh in order to slowly but steady clamber out of its confines. But as it stood, her sternum would be in the way of its escape. She had to make way for it…

As the time passed she wondered about this beast inside her. Where had it come from? Had it always been lurking within her core, or had it fallen into the hole that Alucard gouged when he uprooted their connection? It was a fiery and maleficent monster, of that she was certain, but would it help her? The only thing she could feel was its claws as they tore her apart on the inside. She couldn't feel her own nails scratching away at her chest—she wondered how much longer it would be until she had removed the seal to release it.

Unable to hear her exhalations or feel her chest rise and fall, Maria measured the time by claws. Each new gash she felt the beast rip into her soul the closer to salvation she was. It was quiet enough here that for the first time in her life she had found true solitude. Finally she could hear the flow of her soul and all the secrets it whispered to her. This monster within had been with her from her inception, an indispensable part of her that had been hibernating this entire time. Alucard had essentially caused a landslide when he tore their bond out, and it was these shockwaves that had caused the beast to stir. Starving and enraged, now it was hellbent on getting out and making up for lost time.

Maria would help it. It was a part of her, after all. She wanted it to see the world as well. Just a little more and perhaps she could reach her fingers into her chest and crack it open like an egg. It would hatch and be free, and so would she, she was certain—

So soft she almost thought she had imagined it, a crack sounded from within her and she grinned. The beast's claws were close now; it was inches from the edge. If she reached her hand inside, perhaps it could grab ahold and she could pull it up.

 _Come,_ she besought it. _Come taste the world with me._

Maria thrust her hand into the hole and gasped when suddenly it felt as though the sun itself had settled in her waiting palm, living magma that implored her to pull it up and out of her to be born.

Laughing joyously she pulled, but it was like trying to tug on the sun, massive and impossible. It knew that its freedom was imminent and redoubled its efforts to claw up and over the edge. It was agony, but Maria urged it on.

From her chest she could see a red glow like melting rubies. It was almost here. Just a little more pain, a little more effort and it would walk the earth with her. They would conquer all with flame and terror, until none were left to stand before them.

Without any warning whatsoever there was a roar like thunder and the entire world shook. Jarred by the sudden onslaught of noise and sensation Maria cried out and clutched at her throbbing ears. What was this? The beast was still scrambling up. She couldn't be interrupted now.

And then the blackness was gone, chased away by a blinding white light that covered everything. Her eyes had become accustomed to the dark and felt as though they had been stabbed. She looked down to see blood and bits of bone trailing down her front, and her hand was lost between her breasts and inside her ribcage. The blinding heat she had felt in her palm was none other than her own beating heart.

She didn't know how long he had been there, but Alucard stood a few yards before her as the wrathful prince, his red trench coat heavy and slick with entrails. The manic grin that had been on his face faded instantly upon seeing her on her knees with one hand thrust deep into her own chest.

"What have you done?" he whispered.

* * *

 **A/N:** And a nice little cliffhanger for you. The next chapter will be the last. Favorite, review. Check out that original story on Fictionpress of mine. I've got up to chapter 4 of it posted now. :3


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N:** And here it is, the last chapter.

* * *

With the light came the return of sensation and reality. Her eyes widened in fear as she realized she didn't know how to extricate her hand safely. Though locked away, she must have somehow accessed her powers to allow her fingers to wrap around her heart without ripping arteries. But now that she was lucid she no longer could control them.

"I...I had to help it," she said faintly. "It was crawling out of the hole and I needed to pull it out."

Suflețel appeared beside her as a black cat and swiftly stood on her hind legs, resting her forepaws on Maria's breast to better inspect the buried hand. _You foolish child,_ she chided. _If we had been but a moment later…_

Alucard crouched down beside her, and in his cupped hands was an amorphous black shadow. Soundlessly he pressed it above the hole and she felt it sink through flesh and bone and to her deepest core, like an icicle sinking to the bottom of a lake. The bleeding and raw maw that the beast was trapped in was filled with its coldness and Maria let out a cry of anguish at the loss even as she was made whole again. They had been so close to freedom, to ascension.

 _We're going home,_ Alucard informed her, and she realized numbly that their connection had been restored. _Don't move that hand._

She said nothing as he picked her up and his shadows carried them back to her chambers where he laid her carefully on the bed. His powers flowing anew through her thanks to their bond must have dissolved whatever fetters the Turks had put on her third eye and shadows because she could feel them come back to life.

Suflețel sat on her stomach, staring down at her with sharp crimson eyes. _Now remove your hand slowly._

 _But I wanted to set it free,_ she protested weakly, her eyes fluttering open and shut from the blood loss.

 _That is something that is best left sleeping,_ Suflețel said plainly.

It was faint, but if Maria concentrated very hard she could still hear the beast's betrayed howls from beneath the lake of Alucard's presence. It had been so very close to freedom only to have it cruelly ripped away.

A part of her wanted nothing more than to pull it up and out once and for all, but she knew that Suflețel would never give her bad advice. Her familiar had been around for longer than either she or Alucard had and she knew of the world in ways Maria could never hope to.

Gingerly she loosened her fingers and pulled them out centimeter by centimeter from her chest. Her army of souls poured forth from their confines and smoothed over the wound like fresh water, washing away the pain and blood until she was whole once more.

The very moment the injury had sealed and Maria breathed a long and relieved sigh Alucard was upon her like a tidal wave, covering every inch of her with his body and shadows as he seized her mouth covetously. It was all she could do to wrap her arms around him, overwhelmed not only by this physical presence but also by the connection that brought her back to life, enriching everything around her. She could feel his joy and his rage, his lust and his ambition as though they were her own and the world was as it should be once more.

 _Never break this bond again,_ she begged him.

 _Never,_ he swore, and his gloved hands traced her curves as if to commit every last cell to his memory while his shadows entwined with hers. _I refuse to let you remain in this vulnerable state a moment longer. Allow me to complete the ritual._

She was conflicted. Still shaken from the whole ordeal and newly reunited with him, she felt that she needed time to make such a permanent decision.

He growled against her lips as her dissent filtered through their connection and nipped her lip so he could suck away the beads of blood that blossomed. _You decided years ago. You've begged me countless times. Why hesitate now?_

Even as her mind wavered her body yearned for him in the worst way possible. She thrust her need against his and was rewarded when he hissed in delight before grinding himself further against her.

 _I thought I had two more years. This will change my plans with the humans._

 _To Hell with them,_ the vampire dismissed. _You have curried enough favor that they will see reason regardless._

When she remained silent Alucard further deepened the kiss, as if by laying siege to her mouth he could conquer her indecision. His unfiltered desire flooded her mind and served to only fuel her own and the heat pooling beneath her belly button was alarming.

 _Join me in the Night,_ he cajoled, and he broke their kiss to stare down at her with a sinfully promising smile as he pressed his length against her core. His gloved hands ghosted over her breasts reverently and Maria found herself arching her back desperately as she wished their bothersome clothes would vanish. _Cast aside the fetters of your humanity and finally ascend to the throne with me._

He never took his eyes from hers as he began loosening his cravat and undoing the top few buttons of his white shirt to reveal the tantalizing flesh beneath. Maria was enthralled.

 _Never again will you know cold or hunger,_ he continued. _Never again will you be separated from me._

"Alucard," she whispered, "why now? You seemed content to wait until I was fifty."

His gentle touch to her cheek was at odds with the harsh quality of his voice. "Had I arrived too late tonight, not even God Himself could have stopped me from destroying this world. I will not risk your safety another moment."

In the past thirty years Maria had had more close calls than she could count, whether it was by the hands of the vampires she ruled, by monsters, or by the Ottomans. She had always managed to pull through, though, but ever since Alucard's return the stakes had risen drastically. They had both let their guards down tonight and the result had nearly been catastrophic. As troublesome as this weak human body was, as much as it had held her back, she would be sad to be rid of it.

 _Think of how much you will gain,_ he willed her.

Maria was no fool; she knew that Alucard always did what was in his best interest above all. He wanted her to change because he was frightened of what he would become if she died. He only cared about her desires and happiness when they directly affected him. Having turned previous brides against their will and discovered the pitfalls of that approach, he was doing everything in his power to convince her. Though if he had his way, he would simply steal her humanity from her before she could cry out.

As she considered, she ran her fingers down the silk of his shirt. He watched her every moment hawkishly.

"Tell me what happened to the Turks," she said.

A deviant grin grew on his lips. "I smote them," he hissed. "Though not all. We will conquer them together as King and Queen."

Maria was taken aback by this. He had stayed his hand against his oldest and bitterest enemy so they could destroy them together. Her heart fluttered in her chest at this kind and totally unexpected gesture.

He wanted her to rule with him. He wanted her to be his for now and ever, just as he wanted to be hers.

Her heart was decided, and Alucard must have felt the shift in her thoughts because he chuckled gladly and knelt down to give her a deep kiss.

"Finally," he breathed against her lips, his cool breath fanning across her feverish flesh, "you will be mine, body and soul."

She looped her arms around his neck and kissed him again hungrily before reminding him as she nipped his ear, "And you will be mine."

He laughed and with a wave of his hand their clothes melted into the shadows. His cool and firm body settled atop hers and he gave a kiss full of eagerness as his hands caressed her cheeks and hair with a level of reverence she never thought possible of him. As though she were a rare flower and he the wind his touch was soft and yearning. Maria found herself desperate to feel him as well—she wanted to commit to memory every last second of her humanity as it dripped away, from how his cool touch sent tingling shivers to her core and how his inky black hair twisted around her fingers of its own accord.

 _I will miss this heart and this warmth that threatens to melt me. But most of all I will miss these eyes, the azure green of a sun-kissed meadow I can never look upon._

Had it been a perfect world, Alucard would never have turned her. He cherished her for her human side more than for her monstrous side. He had always loved those who were stronger than him, those who could overcome any fear or obstacle with the might of their human will alone. It was his downfall. But he had reached a level of investment in her that surpassed all previous ones. No longer could he be content to watch the human he cared for succumb to battle and old age. He had to have her as his own until the end of time.

 _I'll make sure to change them back to green every once in awhile,_ she promised him.

He broke their kiss and sat up between her legs to survey her once more as the King with a wild black mane and neatly trimmed beard and moustache. His red eyes meticulously roved from her flushed cheeks and mussed curls to her heaving bosom and finally down to her core that was moist and ready for him.

"Eşti gata?" he asked.

Could anyone ever be truly ready for such a massive event? But Maria had been mostly ready for the past three decades. Now was not the time for cold feet. She nodded and licked her lips before answering, "Da."

"Acesta va fi de peste în momente," he assured her, and Maria's warm hand reached for his at her waist as she bared her neck to him. As he knelt down and ran his tongue over her jugular he wore the same mad and delighted smile he always did, but tonight Maria thought there was a hint of sadness in it. Tonight was, after all, the beginning and end of something he craved above all else.

"Pe curând," Maria whispered, her voice trembling.

He gave a squeeze to her hand as she wrapped her other arm around his back and he sank his fangs deep into her. She felt no pain as he began to drink every last drop of her life away; she only felt a deep sense of contentment. She had made the right decision, this was the correct thing to do.

The world around her began to grow faint and his chill was sinking into her own body. Her eyes were becoming heavy, but Alucard would squeeze her hand and she would resurface briefly. Soon even his touch couldn't rouse her and Maria allowed herself to slip into the darkness, knowing that she would rise once more to him beside her. The only sound in the room was that of her gradually slowing heart and shallow breaths, until those too faded and all she was left with was the dark.

The first thing Maria was met with when she opened her eyes was a familiar set of red eyes staring straight into hers. She lay on her side and her king was beside her, still as a statue as he waited.

"I…" She paused, trying to collect her thoughts. They seemed to be whizzing by at the speed of light as she took in everything around her. As a human her third eye had allowed her to detect many things she should've have been able to sense, but there had been limits to how much her human brain could process. Now she was overwhelmed by the stimuli, from the sounds of the kitchen cooks readying breakfast floors above to the odd whirring sound of the clouds in the sky rolling steadily eastward. Even though her chambers were pitch black she could see everything as though it were day, down to individual dust motes drifting through the air. Alucard was before her looking even more breathtakingly flawless than ever. He watched in silence as she adjusted, carefully gauging her every motion and change of expression.

She looked down at her hands, which were splayed across his broad chest. The faint wrinkles that had formed over the years were gone and her flesh was firm and supple once more. Her long chocolatey curls were even more lustrous than before and each lock fell in a perfect ringlet. With a start she realized that she hadn't once taken in a breath since waking, and that she could no longer hear her heart.

"Did it work?" she whispered.

He frowned. "I'm not sure."

At her bewildered expression the No-Life King took her hand in his and held it to his cheek. Maria was startled by the coldness of his touch. They should have been the same temperature. But if anything, he felt even icier than before.

"Instead of growing cold you grew even hotter," he accused her, "like there is a fire burning where your heart should be."

"But...why?"

"I can't say. What dark arts did you dabble in while I was away?"

"Just the soul splitting and making a contract with one more familiar," Maria said quickly. "I wanted to rely on myself as much as possible."

 _I have the answer._

Suflețel had appeared in the space between the two of them on the bed as a kitten, looking from one to the other.

The two of them sat up to listen to what the hellbeast had to say.

 _My master is not a mere human,_ she explained.

Alucard rolled his eyes. He never had patience with riddles and circular talk. "We've long been aware of that. Be direct."

Giving up on him, Suflețel turned her attention to Maria instead. _The night this vampire found you, you were surrounded by three other vampires. They had completed a very old and complex ritual, and you were their fruit._

"What...what kind of ritual?" Trepidation had suddenly seized her at her familiar's words. Was she some freak? What manner of ritual could it have been?

 _It has only been successfully completed four times since the dawn of man. The vampires managed to fuse a familiar to the soul of a human infant. The beast you nearly ripped out earlier tonight was none other than the familiar itself. It remained dormant within the depths of your soul thanks to the vampire's dark presence which served as a balance between the good and evil you inherently possess, though you inadvertently used some of its powers._

"This is why you were so quick to learn how to use the powers I gave you," Alucard muttered.

 _Of course,_ Suflețel sneered. _This pompous oaf thought it was solely thanks to his influence that you were able to blossom in the Night as you have._

"And this is how I always understood what your familiar was saying," she added numbly. "Is this why I can read souls a little?"

The shadowy cat inclined its head in a nod. _Your eyes will never be as perceptive as mine, but you use the beast's sight to catch glimpses of souls as we do. While you cannot see every facet as we do, your experiences as a human allow you to connect their causes and effects in ways we cannot._

"I'm warm because you are warm," Maria surmised. "But then does this mean that I am not a vampire?"

Most importantly, would this impure existence keep her from staying with Alucard until the end as planned?

 _You are the first to have walked this path so I cannot say with certainty,_ Suflețel answered, _but only the human half of your soul has been turned. The other half remains unaffected. One would assume that since both vampires and familiars are non-living so are you, and as both are creatures of night and shadow so are you._

"Is there no way to release the familiar within me?" Maria asked. She could still remember its anguished howls as if they had been her own. "A way to let it surface?"

 _Now that your body of flesh no longer hinders you, perhaps. Time will tell._

"We can discuss this later." Alucard waved the cat away and Suflețel hissed at him reproachfully. "Human, vampire, familiar—you could be the Devil Himself and it would matter not. I've waited centuries for this. Your prattle can come later."

Maria stroked her familiar's back and pressed her nose to her moist one. "Thank you," she whispered sincerely. "I appreciate you sharing your knowledge with me. I want to talk with you more about this later."

 _Half a millennia younger than the vampire and yet a thousand times wiser,_ Suflețel muttered in one final jab at the No-Life King. She faded before Alucard could swipe her off the bed and back to Hell.

"I hate cats," he spat, face twisting into a snarl.

"What if what's inside me is a cat familiar?" Maria teased, and she ran her nails down his chest playfully.

"I'll skin you like one," he growled as he grabbed her by the waist to pull her flush against him. A groan escaped his lips at the contact as Maria hissed. Their temperature difference was even starker than before, and it was as torturous as it was pleasant to their overly-sensitive touch.

She kissed him, exploratory and curious. He was the same as he had always been, but now she could taste every nuance of his existence, could feel the grooves of each rough thumbpad as they rubbed against her nipples covetously and it was all she could do moan softly as he returned the kiss, adding in his greed and impatience.

 _Our game of foreplay has carried on for far too long,_ he decided.

 _Oh, I don't know,_ Maria said nonchalantly as she ran her tongue up his neck and nibbling on his ear. _I could wait another couple decades. This is all so brand new to me._

Alucard squeezed her to him so his raging erection could press against her thighs. "I ran out of patience long ago," he said dangerously.

She just chuckled as she took his length into her hot hand to give it a few pumps. The Nosferatu groaned and shivered against her, eyes sliding shut.

"Oh? Cat got your tongue?" asked Maria innocently with the most devilish smile on her lips.

His eyes shot open and he fixed her with a glower that could wither an entire field. In the blink of an eye he was on top of her, his manhood settled in its proper place at her entrance as he held himself up over her with two strong arms. Maria smiled as she put a hand on either shoulder. The two of them simply stared into each other's matching crimson eyes, not moving. This was the final cliff to jump, the only thing left keeping them from becoming one. The momentousness of this occasion humbled them.

Maria reached up to tuck a stray black curl behind his ear and gave him a soft kiss. "Take me," she whispered. "I would be yours in every possible way."

Though he was poised at her entrance, he remained still. Never breaking his intense gaze he said quietly, "During my absence, I did nothing but fight the millions of souls I have killed. Countless times I thought I would be overwhelmed and countless times I was so tired I wished to be overwhelmed, for it all to finally end. But then I would look up at the sky above me to see the sea of stars and I would remember your smile and your sharp tongue. You were my sole inspiration to return."

She had never known that she had been so instrumental to his homecoming, assuming that he had come back firstly because it had been Sir Integra's final order to him before he faded. Knowing Alucard, this sort of confession would never fall from his lips again and so she said nothing, just listened intently.

"I am your king," he continued, "but you are my queen as well. I will not cease serving you until the final fiber of my being dissolves into the ether."

"Alucard—" she began, overcome with gladness.

"No," he cut in. "Use my real name."

"Vlad," she corrected, and then she kissed him again as passionately as she dared. He met her frenzy with his own, their bodies sliding together in a way that made her light-headed as his manhood rubbed longingly against her unbearably wet core. "I don't know what is beyond this realm, but when it is our time to leave it we will travel together. I will never relinquish my hold of you."

Hearing the words he had so often told her in her youth from her lips incensed him, and as he claimed her lips afresh in a kiss of heat and promise, he entered her in one fluid motion. Maria cried out from the suddenness and the pleasure of being filled so completely. His chill filled her to her very core and she knew for the first time what it meant to be whole.

Vlad didn't wait—couldn't wait—for her to adjust to this new thrill and immediately began pumping in and out of her at a languorous pace as the two of them learned how they fit together. Maria's hips itched to move in time with his, but his strong hands on either hip prevented her from doing anything other than basking in their perfection. She ran her fingers down his chest, pausing to tweak a nipple and eliciting another shudder from him.

"Stop," he ordered in a groan. "I'm going to melt."

But Maria had always had a devious streak in her. She returned her hands to his shoulders obediently, and then wrapped her legs around his hips without warning to draw him even deeper within her. His cock hit a magical place inside that had her seeing stars and crying out his name and a filthy oath fell from his lips in a hiss as what little restraint he had crumbled. He pistoned into her with abandon as he rested his full weight upon her so his hands could feel every inch of her flesh.

Maria was on fire, and the blaze was fed by ice. She said his name like a prayer as he finally allowed her to move in time with him so she could bring him some of the pleasure he so generously bestowed upon her. There was lava building up inside her just beneath her belly button; she was feverish and moments from eruption and the only thing that existed in this world was her king.

Vlad was just as close to the point of no return as she was, judging by the way each unnecessary breath he took trembled just the slightest bit. Maria extended her shadows to his, and they sparked like two live wires. Their connection was magnified instantly, and it was as though for that moment, their bodies were one and the same. Maria could feel his pleasure just as she could feel hers, could feel his adoration and relief as if they were her own.

"More," she panted. Or had he said it? The lines of their existence were so blurred that it no longer mattered.

Harder and deeper he thrust until Maria thought she would burst from the sheer intensity of the ecstasy. They were mere inches away from diving off the cliff, but something was missing.

Without thinking, she bit down into his right shoulder and with a groan of her name he followed suit. As his rich blood welled up to meet her tongue just as hers did to his, the final connection of mind and soul were made. It was the final bit of pressure needed for the volcano to erupt and cover the world with its fervor.

With a cry Maria's world turned into a place of stars and ecstasy the likes of which she had never known. She clung to Vlad as his rhythm collapsed into something rough and erratic yet flawless as he filled her with his seed.

In the aftermath the two of them remained still, unable and unwilling to move. Bodies and shadows still entwined, they drank from each other as they basked in the wholeness of their union. Maria's breasts heaved even though she knew breath was no longer necessary.

 _With this, we are one,_ the Nosferatu told her. _This bite will be the only scar you will gain as a vampire and it will serve as a reminder to any and all that you are mine and I am yours._

She liked the sound of that. She made a mental note to make sure to buy more dresses that would reveal her shoulders and she felt him smile against her skin.

Presently they both drew away from their markings and kissed once more, allowing each other to taste themselves. Maria's blood had changed only marginally, having lost some of its sweetness in exchange for something more complex and bitter like cacao.

They broke the kiss and Maria nestled into her place in the crook of his shoulder as he put a cool arm around her. She could feel his seed leaking out of her, and she couldn't help but lament its loss.

"Now what?" she asked presently.

His answer was matter-of-fact. "We're not leaving this bed for at least a week. And after that, we'll lay waste to the Turks."

Maria laughed, a full and happy sound. "Of course. Silly me."

* * *

 **A/N:** And this is the end of the story. I hope you enjoyed it. I know there are still some things I didn't cover, like the obliteration of the Turks, the wedding, or Maria's coming out to the human politicians. If you'd like me to write those things, let me know in a review and I may be persuaded. :)

I always liked the concept of familiars. I imagined that Schroedinger was actually a familiar given a human body and not a werewolf. This would allow him to travel "everywhere and nowhere," and would align with how the Major treated Schroedinger as though he were a pet.

Thank you to everyone who read, favorited, followed, and reviewed. It made writing this story well worth it.

"Eşti gata?"=Are you ready?

Acesta va fi de peste în momente=It'll be over in a matter of moments.

Pe curând=See you. :3


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N:** So...it's been about a year since the last update. I had labeled this story finished, but there was still a bit more I wanted to write. Hope you enjoy. The final chapter is 29.

* * *

She had thought that he was joking when he said they weren't leaving the bed for a week, but after three nights she realized that he had been dead serious.

"Listen," she said as Vlad nibbled on her neck and she struggled to stay focused, "it's been great fun, but I have three thousand things to do and you aren't exactly one of them."

He ignored her completely, choosing instead to continue ghosting his fangs over her neck teasingly while his hands roved her curves.

"I've probably got a mountain of correspondence waiting for me," she reminded him, "and the vampires will understand but the humans won't. Master and I have a meeting with Section XIII today as well. They're quite upset that I managed to sneak into their reliquaries and swipe a relic from under their noses."

Any transgression against the church was bound to pique the vampire's interest. His hands stilled and he pulled away to ask, "How did you manage that?"

A coy smile flashed across her lips. "I can't reveal my trade secrets."

He frowned and Maria felt the tendrils of his consciousness creeping further into her mind in search of the answer, but she wasn't giving it up so easily.

"I won't give you the exact details, but when I made that lake holy water I popped over to the Vatican and their storerooms."

"How?" he demanded. The Vatican was perhaps the holiest and most fortified place in the world. Thanks to Schroedinger's soul Alucard would have been able to phase there easily, but would immediately be in excruciation. Undoubtedly there were also countless warding and detection blessings that would have alerted members of Section XIII of an unholy intruder. It should have been impossible for Maria to sneak into their stores of holy weapons and relics.

She dragged her finger along her bare stomach from her bellybutton to her womanhood and in its wake nine simple and unique black tattoos appeared. Angular and almost runic, Alucard recognized them immediately as Slavic pagan tattoos that women in Eastern Europe many centuries ago etched into their flesh for various benefits. They were cool to the touch.

"One for each soul fragment I have placed here and there around the world," Maria explained. "The tattoo binds the piece to the whole. Can you guess where they all are? Roughly, of course."

 _England, Europe, Africa, Australia, Japan, North America, South America, Antarctica, Italy._

"Mm, close," Maria grinned and he narrowed his eyes at her. He disliked guessing games.

 _You can't have snuck it into Vatican City,_ he said. But when Maria's grin only widened proudly he ordered, _Explain._

 _There was so much confusion after Millennium. You obliterated Section XIII and left the Church scrambling to rebuild. I used the tumult to sneak a new relic into their storerooms, an unknown soul fragment. Added it to the registers to make it seem like it'd been there for six centuries. It's collecting dust in a phial beside some demon's eyeball or something as we speak, and they are none the wiser. I figured it would come in handy if we ever wanted to destroy them._

 _Isn't it excruciating?_ he asked.

 _It was at first,_ she admitted, _like one hand was constantly submerged in acid almost. But it's been twenty-nine years and now it barely registers._

His hands resumed their meandering journeys as he grinned. _You are so much shrewder than I had thought._

Maria laughed and tugged his hands off her. "Your flattery won't work, nor will your hands. Nor your tongue. I'm getting out of this bed and going to work."

He frowned, and for a moment she thought perhaps she would have to escape from him, but was pleased when he finally allowed her to rise from the bed.

"How did you manage to split your soul so many times?" he asked.

With a flick of her fingers her shadows slinked up her body and took the form of one of her favorite white dresses, a flowing mid-knee length one with lace towards the top and split sleeves. The cut of it also revealed all of her shoulders so the silver crescent scar of his fangs was on prominent display. She couldn't help but grin when a glance at the mirror showed her to look not a day over twenty. Maria had never been particularly vain, but it was a joy to know that she would never have to worry about wrinkles or gray hairs again. The emerald irises she had grown so used to had changed into a fiercely bright red, brighter even than the No-Life King's but not quite as fiery as her familiars'.

"Suflețel taught me. Our familiars know just about anything you could ever want to know."

The No Life King looked uninterested as he lay on his side.

Maria popped over to his room to grab the stack of correspondence that had piled up in the past few days and then returned to bed with him to open and read them all. A request for a meeting with the Australia coven and Japanese coven, two executions in South America, and seven other requests for meetings with human leaders. It seemed that word of her anti-terrorism success had spread and her services were now needed in additional areas. There was also one from the Ottomans, and when she opened it there was nothing but a bloody handprint on the page.

A nefarious chuckle escaped Vlad's lips beside her when his eyes fell upon the ominous letter. "These fools rush to their deaths. They will mount an assault soon."

"We're not letting them come over here," Maria said firmly.

"Why not? We'll have the advantage then."

"With our numbers we'll have the advantage regardless of where we go. If the battle unfolds here we run a higher risk of humans within our territory being killed, which won't look good for us to the human governments. Humans will surely die no matter where we go, so I'd rather it be theirs than ours. Besides, if we trounce them where they're strongest our claim to power will be all the more solidified."

The Nosferatu gave her a probing, amused look. "You're prepared to kill humans?"

"We're not killing them intentionally, of course," she said plainly, "but the Ottoman stronghold is in Istanbul, which is unfortunately heavily populated. They'll be using djinns, banshees, dust devils, and maybe even some of those horrid hinns against us, and we'll also be commanding armies so vast we won't be able to manipulate them individually. The whole of Istanbul and likely the surrounding area will be obliterated."

Maria could feel his thrill of eagerness like a bolt of lightning and unconsciously she clenched at the bed sheets.

"When?" he hissed.

She frowned. "Next month? I have some affairs to get into order first. The politicians must be informed beforehand, as should the covens."

Vlad sat up, brow creased in incredulity. "Whatever hope of surprise we have will be dashed. Someone will certainly betray us."

"You need to get out of that medieval mentality of yours," Maria warned him. "Wars aren't fought like that anymore even if the foes are the same. We have bigger things to think about than just ourselves as well. This was an incredibly inopportune time for me to become a vampire. The majority of humans didn't know this would be coming and it will be incredibly difficult to make them all accept it. If we immediately proceed to massacre an entire city all of my hard work will be ruined. We must make concessions."

His upper lip was curled into a displeased snarl. He was a king—concessions were beneath him. And having to make them with _humans_ was infuriating. He would sooner obliterate them all than capitulate. His days of retreat and defeat were over.

Maria could feel his simmering outrage and put blazing hands over his icy ones on the duvet as she met his eyes. "Just as you can inspire fealty with power you can do so with being just," she said seriously. "When you gave me your sword, I swore to bring you honor with it and I will uphold that promise until the end. Trust me."

She could see and feel the battle of wills unfolding within him. The prideful prince who wanted to destroy those who dared show anything other than absolute submission and the wise king who understood that chaos—thrilling though it may be—needed to be kept to a minimum.

"Do what you must," he finally growled, and Maria kissed him in delight.

Before she knew it his arms had snaked around her to pull her on top of him and a new heat began to grow within.

 _I need to meet Section XIII in twelve minutes,_ she warned him even as she slid her crimson thong off to toss onto the floor.

 _Make them wait,_ the vampire drawled.

 _You're a terrible influence,_ she lamented as she slid down onto his waiting firmness and the two of them groaned when he filled her completely.

His gloved fingers dug into her hips as he guided her up and down along his shaft and Maria reveled in the feeling of him melting within her as he grinned.

Their pleasure was short-lived, however. Sir Integra's voice, icy and irritated, sliced into their minds like her saber.

 _Do you intend to shag each other until the end of days? We have work to do._

The two of them laughed and after one more hungry kiss Maria rose to her feet, slid her underwear back on, and vanished as the No Life King tucked his hands behind his head and his eyes closed. It was nearly nine a.m., after all.

Maria reappeared beside her master in some art museum in Rome. The blonde turned and took in her servant's youthful appearance and bright red eyes for the first time, brows raised in a mute sort of surprise. Keeping with tradition, the Section XIII envoy was running late.

 _Why are you radiating heat?_ Integra demanded.

 _Turns out I was never an ordinary human from the start,_ Maria smiled and then explained what her familiar had told her.

Sir Integra didn't look surprised at all. On the contrary, Maria was taken aback when all her master said was, "I see."

"Really? That's all the reaction you have?"

The blonde gave her an unimpressed look, though there was a glint of mirth in her eye. "I have long suspected you weren't just a human, though Alucard refused to think otherwise. He must be positively fuming to know that I was right and he was wrong."

Maria smiled and shook her head just as head of Section XIII and his bodyguard approached. The two mortals stopped and stared at her in shock when they took in her youthful appearance and crimson eyes.

"Apologies for stealing the relic," Maria said sweetly. "And also, I wish to inform you that I am officially Alucard's bride, but I hope this doesn't affect our alliance."

The head of Section XIII, a short but fiery raven-haired man named Romulus, sputtered indignantly.

"You are tasked with exterminating all vampires within our domains, and instead you have _become_ one? You have flouted our treaties for the last time. I think it's high time we take back our territory from you-"

Maria gave him a fanged grin dripping with victory. "Romulus, my dear ally. If you'll remember correctly that contract is void only when I am gone from this world, and there was nothing in it stating that I couldn't become a vampire. You people knew who I was and what I was to become when you signed them."

His face grew nearly purple with rage.

"Or would you like to go to war against us?" she cajoled, her grin growing only wider as his fists trembled at his sides. "Just how many holy warriors do you command now? Last time Alucard had them all finished in a matter of minutes. I wonder how long it will take the two of us? Thirty seconds?"

"Maria," Sir Integra said lowly, and with a nod of her head the brunette fell silent, though she couldn't completely erase her smug smirk. Her master turned to Romulus, who was set to explode in a matter of moments by the looks of things. "There will be no war so long as I am commanding Alucard and Maria. However, the contracts the Pope signed with us thirty years ago are binding. I'm afraid there's nothing you can do about this situation."

"I would also like to add that minus the occasional unauthorized use of relics, I haven't broken our contract in any way," Maria said politely. "And the items I have taken have always been in times of emergency when I couldn't wait for the approval I knew I would be granted."

"Don't think you can get away with this so easily," the Section XIII head growled, and he turned around and stalked away from the two of them without further ado, his guard hurrying after him.

"Well, that went well," Integra chuckled.

"They'll be looking for any possible excuse to break the contract," Maria surmised. "We'll have to be even more sure to tow the line in their countries for the next few decades."

"You mean forever," her master said in a low warning.

Maria gave a light laugh. "Of course."

* * *

The following few weeks passed by in a flurry of meetings with vampires and humans alike. The covens all rejoiced—finally their queen was safe from the ravages of time and they were excited to know that the Turks would be brought down. The humans were nothing but alarmed and some felt distinctly betrayed by her change.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Maria had said cordially, putting her hands up in a gesture of open innocence. "My eyes and teeth may have changed, but I am still the same woman you have known for the past three decades, and I will continue to uphold all of our agreements."

She was surrounded by a handful of American, Canadian, and Mexican politicians at the White House who were all agog at her changes.

"You're supposed to be handling all vampiric issues in two thirds of the world," the Canadian Prime Minister said, looking both angry and confused. "You've been consorting with them all along."

"Both of these things are true, but that doesn't make them negative," Maria patiently explained. "I was chosen to be Alucard's bride from a very young age and was groomed accordingly. I have been harnessing the powers of the Night for as long as I can remember. However, this has given me the unique ability to see the world through the eyes of both human and vampire. When creating my empire, I strove to create one that would benefit both species equally, and you cannot deny that I have done so."

There was silence in the room as everyone mulled her words over. There was no doubt that vampire incidents were at an all-time low and had been for the past twenty years, and with Maria's aid there were fewer supernatural problems as well. By all accounts, the humans had never had it better.

The Mexican president still wore a deep frown. "You may have been working in our favor until now, but will you continue to? What guarantee do we have?"

"The contracts we have signed stipulate that I will uphold my end until I am gone from this world. In other words, until someone manages to kill me once and for all I have sworn to keep my word."

"But what's to say that you will uphold your promises? You could renege at any time."

"Gentlemen," Maria said with a hint of reproach. "Is this how quickly you throw away the trust we have built? At what point in the past three decades have I ever broken a promise or failed to come through on a deal? I have every intention of continuing to conduct myself in the same way as before, even if I must now refrain from doing so in the sunlight."

"And this Alucard," the American president continued. "He's one of the evilest monsters in creation, isn't he? And _he's_ the one you're wed to? Belong to, even?"

"The No-Life King has become slightly more docile in his later years," Maria said with a fanged smirk. "He still has a certain penchant for violence and chaos, but he understands as well as I do that a kingdom and its subjects must have peace. Let me assure you that I have been and will continue to keep him in check after our master Sir Hellsing passes away."

" _You_ have been keeping Alucard in check?"

"Ah, I see. How could I, as a human girl, have managed to control him? You see—"

"My queen does not control me, just as I do not control her. We have an... _agreement_ of sorts."

The vampire in question had suddenly appeared to stand beside Maria's chair, a cold gloved hand resting heavily on her shoulder. She looked up to him with a smile, and there was a glint of warmth in his red gaze for her as he regarded the cowering humans.

"A-agreement?" The Canadian Prime Minister mustered the courage to ask.

Alucard's grin widened to reveal rows of nothing but sharp fangs. _Don't scare them too much,_ she warned him. _I'm working on showing them I'm still the same trustworthy girl they've known. Don't undo my work._

"If I do something that doesn't please her, I am—"

Maria knew exactly what he was going to tell him and cut him off with a vicious, _If you dare tell them the truth—_

He finished smoothely and without pause, "—denied certain privileges."

It had only taken five days for him to attract her ire when he had had the gall to appear in the middle of a sensitive Round Table meeting and frighten the daylights out of all members except for herself and Sir Integra. If it had been any other politicians, anyone who had never met Alucard before, the results could have been disastrous and she could have lost an essential alliance. Maria's first impulse had been to shoot him, but she had thought better of it. He would only enjoy it, after all.

So instead, she had contained her rage until the sun rose that morning and he had materialized in her bed to find only Puișor with a note attached to its leg.

"I've no need for a nuisance in my bed," it had said in her cursive script. "I'll return in a week. Don't try to find me—I'll just vanish to another coven the moment I feel your presence."

She had returned to Hellsing headquarters seven days later to find a veritably fuming No-Life King waiting for her, his hair long and wild and grin like a shark.

"You have nerve to disappear on me like that," he growled to her as she let down her curls from their updo unconcernedly.

"And _you_ have a lot of nerve turning up the way you did. I had just finished telling them how I was safe and trustworthy and together we would be leading vampires around the world into an era of peaceful coexistence with humans, and then _you_ show up _deliberately_ covered in blood and guts to inform Master of your finished mission. Do you have any idea how that looked?"

Alucard just watched her from the bed as she stormed about, her shadows writhing about wildly after her. He lay on his side, head propped up on the palm of his hand. The rageful fire that had been burning in his gaze upon her return had lessened to an irritated smoulder.

"Upholding my honor and our alliances with the humans right now is the most trying thing I've ever done," she continued. "I have enough problems just getting them okay with the fact that I'm now one of the monsters I'm supposed to be keeping in check for them, let alone the little issue that we're going to war with the Turks shortly and who knows how many humans will be massacred in the process. The absolute last thing I need is you showing up wearing human entrails like you purposefully rolled around in them three seconds prior."

"So your little vacation was my punishment?" he surmised.

Maria gave an unamused snort. She hadn't had a vacation her entire life. Even though she had been away from home she had been meeting with covens and countries alike almost non-stop.

"I need some way to reprimand you. Anything I tell you will likely be ignored. If I shoot you you'll just laugh and want more, and it will do neither of us good if I ask Master to punish you. So that means the only bargaining chip I have left is my body."

His smirk turned darkly amused. "I see," was all he said in a deep murmur.

He held out a gloved hand to her and she took it not without a small amount of misgiving. With a tug he had pulled her onto the bed and on top of him. His cold was like a soothing balm, his scent the smell of home. Despite herself Maria sighed against his neck.

"Don't make me go away again," she murmured.

He wouldn't make a promise he had no intention of keeping, and Maria understood this. So when he dragged her up so he could press his lips to hers in a hungry, possessive way she had returned it with a viciousness he relished.

Tonight's meeting with the North American leaders had gone about as smoothely as she could have hoped. Like the majority of the humans whom she had re-introduced herself to, they had left the meeting uneasy but not entirely chagrined. The No-Life-King's appearance had only given their meeting an extra sense of gravity. All Maria could do now was wait for them to accept her changes.

It was difficult enough to bring them to accept that she had forfeit her humanity to be with a monster, but that was nothing compared to warning them that the two of them would soon strike and destroy a shadowy vampiric empire that spanned nearly a third of the globe, and that in the process an untold amount of humans and land would be blighted. Maria had done her best to assuage them that she would do everything in her power to spare what humans she could, but the assurance had snagged on her new fangs.

Therefore, she had been hard at work devising a strategy that would result in the fewest casualties possible. She created it alone, as Vlad would have no part in doing anything that would save humans, though he wasn't averse to following her plan when she presented it to him.

"You think this will work?" he asked her, a smirk ever-growing on his lips as his eyes roved over the large diagram she had lain on the table before him. Black and red pawns were placed here and there over the map to represent them and their enemy.

"Probably. All of the intel I have suggests that their base is in Istanbul with another large concentration of power in Ankara as well, with regional outposts not unlike the main covens we have in each country."

"And how did you familiarize yourself so well with the enemy?"

She smiled proudly. "I have established a group of trustworthy vampires that have infiltrated the Empire and report back to me. Also, I gain access to all the knowledge and memories of any of the messengers they send when I kill them."

The No-Life-King gave a pleased chuckle as he took an obsidian pawn into his long fingers and twirled it about. "And what of the humans? Over two hundred million will be caught up in the middle of this."

"Those plans are in motion," Maria said simply, her brow creased.

"We're not going to ask Seras or the Frenchman to fight alongside us?"

Maria shook her head. "Even if she's your fledgling, this war has nothing to do with her, and even less with Pip. Let them continue their work for Master."

Vlad's fingers snaked up her bare arm and into her hair where they lost themselves among her curls. She took a seat upon his lap, fiery crimson eyes burning dully as she pored over the battle plans for the thousandth time.

He could feel her dissatisfaction through their connection like molasses that had gone bad, and even when he dragged his tongue up the warm column of her neck she failed to respond.

"Does it not thrill you?"

Maria leaned back against his chest and gave a soft sigh. She couldn't expect him to understand the mixture of remorse and dread she was filled with knowing how many humans would perish in the upcoming days. Innocent, nameless, ordinary people going about ordinary lives would be struck down like ants by an unsuspecting and unprejudiced bootheel.

"I want every last one of the Turks turned to dust," she said quietly, "so that we never have to do this again."

She felt her King give a fanged smirk against her neck. "Your heart has stopped and yet it can still bleed."

She fiddled with the engagement ring that sat glinting on her finger and then finally rose to her feet. There was correspondence to send and a bi-monthly coven meeting in South America that she needed to be at in several hours. She couldn't afford to sit around moping and second-guessing her strategy. Having gone over a thousand different scenarios, she had chosen the one with the lowest number of human casualties by far and had already begun the process. Now all that was left was to come to terms with it.

In the week leading up to the battle Maria fluctuated between anxious, excited, and remorseful. This was much to Vlad's displeasure, as her emotions bled into his and ruined his eagerness for the fight. Therefore, she did her best to stay occupied enough that she wouldn't have time to think about all of the lives that would be snuffed out by them and their enemies. There were endless meetings to be had with the covens and the human leaders, as well correspondance to keep up with.

Finally, the night arrived. Her king roused her from her sleep before the sun had fully set. Garbed in his red trench coat and hat, he held a gloved hand out to her with a barely contained grin on his lips.

"It's time," he hissed.

His eagerness was like bubbling mercury within her, and when she placed her hot hand in his icy one the sensation only strengthened. She tried her best not to let her warbling dread well up to the surface, as she knew that this was a night he had looked forward to since he was still a human. Maria summoned a small mountain of blood packets from the kitchen fridge which they drank down gluttonously.

Seras was waiting for the two of them outside their chambers, her red eyes unusually bright with her Master's bloodlust. Like Maria, she was susceptible to The No-Life King's temperament as well.

"I just wanted to wish you and Master the best of luck," she said.

Maria pulled her friend into a hug. "Thanks," she smiled.

"And you're sure you don't want me or Pip to come along? Sir Integra wouldn't mind if I took a night off for something like this."

"No, your duty tonight is to watch over our Master in our stead," said Vlad. "Besides, the battlefield doesn't suit you."

A frown curled the blonde's lips but she didn't disagree. "I feel like I haven't lived up to my reputation as your fledgling. It's been forty years since you turned me and I haven't even drunk from you yet. And Maria has been stronger than me for decades."

The No-Life King looked impassive and when he made no move to assuage his fledgling Maria said, "I don't think he made you with a warrior in mind. There are plenty of other duties that you fulfill better than I ever could."

Seras looked bewildered and opened her mouth to ask, but her master cut in coldly, "Your chitchat can come later."

"O-of course, Master. Good luck, then."

Vlad's shadows pulled them through the floor and to Sir Integra's office, where she was squinting at a piece of paper. Upon their arrival she put down the document to regard them both with a knowing look.

"So tonight is the night you'll finally crush the Turks."

Her servant simply gave an eager "hn" as he grinned.

The Hellsing heiress seemed unaffected by Alucard's joy. She took her time lighting a cigar and as she exhaled a puff of heavy smoke she looked towards Maria, lone blue eye as piercing as ever.

"I saw the news today," she said casually. "Why is it that peace always seems so unachievable in the Middle East?"

The brunette wriggled uncomfortably under her master's scrutiny. "We'll endeavor to end the conflicts once we have power," she said quietly.

" _You'll_ endeavor," the vampire beside her corrected.

Maria felt that she would crumble into dust from the intensity of the soul-searching look she was being given. She was remorseful enough as it was; she didn't need Integra making her feel even guiltier.

"Do we have your permission to leave?" she asked politely.

Sir Integra leaned back in her chair, her fingers steepled beneath her chin. The silence between the three of them stretched on for what felt like days but in actuality was only a few seconds. In their master's gaze were the fires of judgement, but within the blaze was also understanding. She had had her own share of difficult choices to make in the past five decades. She knew what it was like to have the weight of innocent souls on her shoulders, to have their blood stain her hands.

"Go," she commanded them with a wave of her gloved hand. "Conquer your foes."

The words were no sooner out of his master's lips than Alucard was laughing, a full and mad cackle that reverberated off the walls. His shadows sprouted from the marble like tendrils and wrapped around their feet, but just before they could whisk them away to the battle Suflețel appeared before them, staring directly into Maria's matching vermillion gaze.

 _Wait,_ it said to her. _You cannot go into battle yet._

The Nosferatu leveled the kitten with a scowl contemptuous enough to kill. The moment he had been awaiting for more than five hundred years was at hand, and this infernal cat was in the way.

But Maria placed a staying hand on her king's arm and listened intently to her familiar. Throughout the past three decades Suflețel had never bothered to tell her something that wasn't essential. Vlad was left to stare at the two of them with a rageful snarl, as he wasn't privy to their mental dialogue. But while he couldn't hear what they were talking about, he could feel the drastic change in emotions that the cat's words brought about within his bride. The guilt and shame that had been swirling about her like a miasma for the past week had been swept away as if by a great gust, and in their place was a burgeoning hope and eagerness that took him aback.

When she looked up to him, a joyous fire was crackling in her vermillion gaze. "There's been a slight change in plans," she told him. "Can you please wait just an hour?"

It was incredible how long an hour could sound to a being as old as the No Life King. He growled, "What can be so important that you would deviate from this plan you spent weeks devising?"

Maria stood up on her tiptoes to whisper into his ear, "If we do this right, in this one night both of our deepest desires can be made reality."

His brow furrowed slightly in bewilderment, but she flashed him a fanged grin and then vanished with Suflețel to somewhere he couldn't sense her.

Sir Integra, who had been watching the peculiar exchange, asked, "What just happened?"

Alucard frowned. He wasn't sure himself. "I should never have given her that cat," he ground out.

True to her word, Maria returned to the Hellsing manor and specifically Alucard's chambers where he was impatiently drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair, grinning ear to ear.

"What was that all about?" he growled immediately upon her return.

Maria glided toward him on her shadows, positively glowing with excitement. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen her so giddy, even though they were moments from heading into a battle he knew she didn't want to participate in.

"I told you," she gushed, taking his gloved hands into her own and tugging him to his feet. "Thanks to Suflețel, tonight may be the best night of our lives."

Alucard didn't know what she prattling on about, but he didn't care. His entire body was humming with the urge to strike down his eternal foe once and for all. His shadows licked at Maria's feet hastily as her sword appeared on her back and her crown on her head.

"Once I've conquered the western front I'll return to you," she swore.

His shadows were already twining up his legs like serpents and his mouth split into a shark-like grin as he commanded, "Crush them all; make the whole world tremble to behold its new King and Queen of the Night."

"Yes, my King," she hissed, and they shared a brief but mad kiss until their shadows consumed them.

Maria appeared atop the crown of Ramses II at Abu Simbel and wasted not a moment in releasing every last level of the Hellsing family seal on her hip. As a human, she had been forced to undo the bindings to Level 1 innumerous times, as her weak body lacked the ability to heal from wounds like her groom. But tonight would be the first time that she would be able to see her true power since that cursed night thirty years ago when her groom had been stolen from her.

"Releasing Control Art Restriction Systems 3, 2, 1, 0. Approval of Situation B recognized; commencing the Cromwell Invocation. Ability restrictions lifted for limited use until the enemy has been rendered silent."

It felt as though a dam that had been choking and muzzling a raging river had in the blink of an eye crumbled, and now the power of the more than two million souls she had accumulated was free to torrent forth into the world. This level of power, this feeling of infinite providence, was more exhilarating than any orgasm. Maria cackled and threw her arms up to the full moon as if to embrace it.

"Come," she beckoned her servants, "serve your Queen and see that each and every one of her foes is turned to ash."

Heeding her order flawlessly, on the sandy plain before her materialized every last being at her command. They were so many that they spread on over the horizon, a mass of nameless black shadows of humans, vampires, banshees, djinn, and every other cursed creature that existed only to exalt her. The three hinn that she had nearly died to obtain surged before her as great pillars of acrid black flame, eager to annihilate.

Maria leveled a finger at the twinkling sea of lights to the north that was civilization, and with a tremendous roar her army swept over the land, leaving nothing but blighted, charred earth in its wake.

The country would be razed and its inhabitants would be helpless. She had done what she could beforehand to evacuate as many as possible by engineering a terrorist threat, but in the end only half had taken shelter in the nations to the outside of the Ottoman Empire. Millions upon millions of humans would perish in the conflagration tonight, and as she watched her dark forces head over the horizon, extinguishing all light of civilization in their wake, guilt twisted her stomach like a python.

 _You did what you could to save them,_ Suflețel reminded her. Her familiar was free to exist in its true form now that its master's binds were freed, and she loomed over Maria as an amorphous midnight mass of shadows, eyes, and teeth. Puișor was floating beside her, just as massive and beastly. _Come. We must hurry if we are to complete all of the objectives._

Maria shook herself. She couldn't afford to let her conscience slow her down tonight. She looked up to Suflețel and Puișor and then commanded them, _Head south and slay all the vampires you meet._

Her familiars nodded and immediately streaked over the horizon to destroy any and all Ottoman forces in the nations south. They were relatively few and there were no incredibly strong vampires there, as all the vampires of power had gathered in Istanbul in anticipation of the battle.

Maria had spent the past two weeks manipulating the human extremist groups in the area and orchestrating elaborate acts of terrorism in Cairo, Ankara, Istanbul, and any other major city centers. Roughly 300,000 humans had become casualties in the missile strikes to the major cities, but thanks to their sacrifice tens of millions more had evacuated to safer territory where they were unknowingly under the protection of governments and covens loyal to her and Vlad.

The Turks knew that the war was imminent and had concentrated all of their most powerful in the seat of the empire, Istanbul. Naturally, this was where Vlad had gone, leaving Maria and the souls at her disposal to exterminate all of the weaklings throughout the rest of the empire.

And, unbeknownst to him, it had left her to complete the most important objective of all.

The young vampiress took a shaky breath and attempted to steel herself for the most despicable act she would ever commit.

Her familiars were hundreds of miles south by now, laying waste to an Ottoman outpost manned by thirty woefully weak vampires, yet Suflețel felt her master's dread instantly.

 _You know that there is no other option. That out of evil can come good,_ she reminded Maria for the hundredth time.

 _Yes, but…_

 _You know what will happen if you do not carry this out._

The brunette's frown deepened. _...Yes._

 _Then go, and remember that what you do tonight will one day restore light to the world._

Nodding, Maria alighted from Ramses and streaked towards Cairo, her third eye honed in on one particular home on the southern outskirts of the city. Her forces were just about to sweep through Cairo like a hellish whirlwind, laying waste to any being in its path, human, vampiric, or otherwise. But Maria would get there first.

Her destination was a humble mud brick home in the slums that made up the southern border of the city. It was one of a thousand identical hovels, but it was the only one that would do. The more than two million souls at her command were only a quarter of a mile away, and their coming shook the world as though the ground would split to reveal Hell beneath them. Maria could feel the humans all around her, the flurries of their panicked hearts and the gusts of their frightened gasps as they looked out their windows or from the rooftops to see Death sweeping towards them.

She tuned out the multitudes to focus on the only five that mattered. Two of them were watching the incoming forces roll in like a midnight sandstorm while the other three were cowering in their mother's arms. Maria stood in the middle of the street and watched unflinchingly as her army finally reached the city and rushed past her like a river, tearing into homes and filling the night with the wails and cries of pure and impure alike.

Only the house of the five was left untouched, and Maria could hear them praying fervently within.

But tonight there was only one god listening, and it was the Goddess of Chaos.

With the slightest twitch of her finger the deadbolt to the flimsy wooden door slid free and the door creaked open. They screamed and shouted and the father made a valiant attempt to hold the door closed against her with his body, but her pinky alone was enough to shatter the door and throw him against the far wall, where he crumpled in a heap.

The mother pulled her three children to her tighter, crying out to her husband.

"He's of no use," Maria said with a calculated grin, her fangs catching in the flickering light of the candles they had on the table. "I've shattered his spine."

The three children clutched at their mother's skirts. The youngest was a boy of only three, whimpering softly. The other two were girls of five and eleven. The middle one was sobbing as she looked from the still figure of her father on the ground to the monster framed in flames in the doorway. The eldest was reciting a prayer, fixing Maria with a glorious glare that was both fearful and defiant.

But it wasn't enough. Until the girl before her was nothing but a tempest hellbent on retribution, Maria couldn't stop.

She strode toward the four and the mother did her best to force the children behind her to shield them, begging Maria not to come near them. With a grin the vampiress grabbed her by the hair and dragged her closer, opening her jaws unnaturally wide to reveal rows of nothing but jagged fangs. The three children screamed and the eldest tried hitting her, but to avail as Maria bit their mother's head off with one snap. Blood warm and fresh splattered all over them and she held the mother's head above her wide open mouth to gulp down what she could as the three wailed and cursed her and the woman's limp body fell with a loud thump.

When the flow of blood stilled she tossed the head to the ground where it looked up at its children with a ghastly, wide-mouthed grimace and sunken eyes.

"And who is next?" the bride of Alucard whispered, a rivulet of blood curving down her chin, and the three children all looked up at her in abject horror.

Maria then proceeded to slowly, meticulously torture and devour the father and youngest two siblings, forcing the eldest to play witness to each unimaginable atrocity. The eldest daughter had prayed, cursed her, and begged for mercy at first. But after the vampiress skinned the youngest and fed off his flesh, she fell silent. Maria watched as the hatred grew in her dark brown eyes, as the necessary resolve sprouted within.

Yes, this was perfect.

When only the eldest was left and Maria rounded on her, the girl didn't attempt to flee. She threw her head up in a show of defiance, even as her chin quivered. Maria lunged forward, but the girl barely flinched as the Queen of the Night hovered mere centimeters from her face, leering at her with teeth stained ochre with her family's entrails.

"How does it make you feel?" Maria breathed. "To know that there is no hope left in the world?"

When the girl spoke, her voice was quivering but there was a conviction that shone through like gold as she swore, "Even if you take away all the hope in this world, I will create more."

"That's a good answer," Maria grinned. "Let me reward you."

The girl thrashed against her as the brunette placed her hands on either side of her face and pulled her into a kiss. She fought against it valiantly, her disgust palpable as Maria sucked on her bottom lip and then drove her fangs through to puncture it. When she pulled away, the girl was left panting and shaking with two small holes beneath her bottom lip that were bleeding profusely.

"Every child in your line will have those scars as a birthmark," Maria told her calmly, "so that they never forget what happened this night."

The girl spat her blood out on the ground and fixed the vampiress with a look of pure enmity. "I will pass on this scar and this hate for you to each of my children, and their children, and to each and every one of my descendents until you are rotting in Hell," she promised.

Maria's grin grew only wider. "Good. Make sure to pass these down to them with your hatred, then."

In her hands appeared two most peculiar knives wrapped in white silk. They were daggers with blades about a foot long, made of a metal so white and pure that they glowed in the darkened room. The blades tapered to a point finer than a needle's, yet would never break. Maria placed them at the girl's feet and then turned to leave.

Held by Maria's shadows, the child could do nothing but impotently watch as the vampiress drifted through the door and into the arid Cairo night. The entire city was ablaze, but the screams had all ceased. Her army had continued eastward hours ago and were now laying siege to the easternmost edges of the Ottoman Empire. Having eliminated every vampire south of here, her familiars were currently assisting the main army.

 _Return to me._

The No-Life King's baritones cut through the haze of disgust and self-loathing in her head and she forced herself to wipe away her tears and put away any and all thoughts about the little mud brick house and the horrors she had committed within. He could never know.

In the blink of an eye her shadows had transported her to the opulent throne room of Topkapi Palace, the very heart of the Ottoman Empire. The already colorful room with its beautiful mosaics and gilding was made all the more vibrant with the blood spattered on every surface. Maria stepped over heaps of dismembered corpses both human and vampire to reach her groom, who had never looked kinglier than he did at that very moment, sitting upon the grand throne in his armor and crimson eyes alight with victory.

She genuflected before him, and he allowed her to do so for a moment before extending an icy hand and pulling her to him. His joy and relief washed over her like a tidal wave and Maria in turn felt glad. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that the Nosferatu could feel any emotion other than rage this strongly.

The foes who had robbed him of everything he held dear in his human life, the dogs who had started him down the twisted path that led him here, had once and for all been cast into Hell. His five-hundred year-long vengeance had finally been enacted, and now their rule was unchallenged.

"My king," Maria whispered as he pulled her onto his lap, "how does victory feel?"

A pleased laugh left his parted lips. "Liberating," he told her, and then he was kissing her with all the same passion and fervor he showed on the battlefield.

Maria wrapped her arms and shadows around him, allowing their souls to intertwine as she deepened the kiss. He had been waiting five-hundred years for this night, and while she had only been waiting thirty the urge was just as unquenchable in her as it was in him.

"Take me," she whispered against his cool lips, and her clothes melted into the night to reveal perfect, creamy flesh that he drank up with his voracious gaze. "Conquer me like you did your foes, right here on their sacred throne."

The No-Life King's mouth slanted into an amused smirk as he took her face into his hands. "You are the greatest spoil I could ever wish for," he told her, and then was seizing her mouth in another soul-searing kiss as his armor vanished.

Their hands sought to claim every inch of the other, tangling in wild hair and squeezing at smoothe and strong muscle, caressing each contour as Maria ground against her groom's firm manhood, slickening it with her desire until the two of them could take no more.

Just as she sank onto his length he drove his fangs ruthlessly into her jugular, and the double penetration had her seeing stars. Maria could feel his coldness radiating from her core, causing her whole body to shudder in delight. Two strong hands on her hips, Vlad guided her up and down his cock, taking her up so high that she could only enjoy the very tip of him before ramming her back down to fully sheathe himself once more. Each impalement left her shaking and pleading for more, and he gave a grunt of ecstasy as he entered her to the hilt again and again.

With each thrust and each brush of her warm nipples against his icy chest the fire in Maria became even hungrier for fuel. How he could so easily ignite her very soul and drive her to the brink of such glorious madness she would never understand.

Vlad broke away from her neck to give her a vicious kiss of her own blood, wasting no time in dragging his tongue across one of her fangs so they could enjoy their exquisite union further as he picked up the pace, driving into her with enough passion and strength to break a regular woman. But to Maria, it was sheer rapture. He struck the part deep within her that cried out for him most and sent shockwaves of pleasure from her center to her toes each time he completed her. Her walls quivered and trembled to behold his majesty, and he in response groaned her name as his hair grew to the floor and wrapped around her wrists and ankles in his frenzy.

Damnation within a never ending night was a small price to pay if it meant she could spend eternity his.

With one especially hard and deep thrust Maria fell to him, crying out his name and clinging to him desperately. A curse fell from his lips as she tightened around him and his rhythm collapsed into a mad staccato as he pistoned ruthlessly into her for a few flawless seconds until he was coming inside her, filling her with his devotion until she could take no more.

They kissed each other tenderly once more as his seed shot cool and thick deep into her core, and Maria wrapped her arms around his neck and rolled her hips slightly, causing him to let out a soft groan into the embrace.

When it was all over, they stayed just as they were for several more long moments. Entwined, sated, whole, basking in the perfection in the other. When Alucard opened his eyes and met her gaze, a warm and pleasant fire was burning within them.

 _It will be light soon,_ he told her. _We should return._

Maria nodded even though the last thing she wanted to do was move or restore the seal of her power.

With great reluctance she rose to her feet, and as she did so lost the joy of his cool presence within her. His cum leaked steadily from her, taking with it all of the chill she craved.

Except, she noticed in disbelief, this time he hadn't disappeared completely from within her. For the first time ever, there remained a pinprick of ice in her core, so small that she almost couldn't notice it.

Her cinnabar eyes shot wide in incredulity as she put a hand over her stomach, and Alucard watched her blankly until her thoughts reached him and he too took on a look of shock. In the flash of an eye he was at her side, a probing hand over hers beneath her belly button.

"No," he muttered. "It's not possible."

Her familiar had told her of the possibility, but Maria had been too hopeful to believe until now. "Suflețel told me tonight before we left that there may be a chance tonight. That when you and I are both as close to our true selves as possible, we could perhaps conceive a child thanks to the half of me that isn't a vampire."

The No-Life King seemed to be too shocked for words. He simply stood stiller than a statue with his cool hand on her stomach, unable to deny the unwavering presence of one point of cold within her.

When three whole minutes passed and he had neither blinked nor revealed his thoughts to her, Maria said quietly, "Suflețel said that it's never happened before, so she can't predict whether it will be successful or not. But...a child, Vlad. _Our_ child."

The Nosferatu met her tremulously hopeful gaze with a troubled one. "Nothing good can come of the union of two monsters," he told her.

"You don't know that," Maria denied immediately, just as he had known she would.

With a wave of his hand their clothes had appeared again and he had wiped away his vexed expression to return to the blank facade he often wore. "Call back your souls. We must return to Master before the sun rises."

In a numb state of shock, she did as told. All two million souls plus the millions more they had slain that night poured into her, imbuing her with their strength and vitality to the point she thought she would burst. The seal on her hip grew hot and its cursed chains and cages were erected within her once again.

Suflețel appeared on her shoulder as a kitten, its red eyes smug. _So all of your objectives were successful tonight,_ she observed.

 _Thanks to you,_ Maria said gratefully.

 _I can make no guarantees for what the future holds regarding this babe,_ the cat warned. _It could be a monster of even greater calamity than its father._

Maria scoffed as she and Alucard phased back to the Hellsing manor to report to their master. _Let's not forget that it's half me as well. It'll be fine._

* * *

 **A/N:** And so ends Chapter 27. What did you think? Leave me a comment! I'll have the next chapter up in a few days.


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N:** Thanks for tuning in for another chapter. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get some flames from some people, but I've donned by flame-retardant leotard as I sit down before this computer, so all is good. Enjoy.

* * *

The total number of Ottoman vampire casualties was 139,759. The total number of human casualties was roughly one hundred and sixty-five million. Though they had managed to evacuate and protect more than half of the people in the affected area, the death toll was staggering. The human world was left reeling and cowering at the single largest vampire-caused massacre in the history of the world.

In the aftermath of the destruction Maria was left to put out political fires on a 24/7 basis for the next two years. Some nations threatened war while others demanded that all vampires leave their country immediately. Others begged Maria and Vlad to crush their enemies for them or to make them vampires. While there had been no video footage of Maria committing genocide, there was plenty of video evidence of her and Vlad's millions strong armies of man and monster. The image of a kind and approachable leader she had spent her entire life cultivating had been burnt to ash in one night. Now all the world saw her for what she really was—a monster with a human's skin stretched over its bones.

The fact that the two of them had taken down the Ottoman Empire in order to unite all vampires and ultimately create a safer, more peaceful world meant nothing to the short-sighted humans. She was just as evil as Alucard in their eyes now.

Which, Maria supposed, was true.

But reviled as she and her groom were, they were the single most-powerful entities in the world. Every nation needed to keep in their good graces, and so invitations to balls, conferences, and summits continued to arrive. Only where before they had greeted her with smiles they now trembled in fear as they shook her hand.

Alucard couldn't understand why this made her so melancholic and told her to disregard them. It was human nature to fear a monster, afterall. Pip had shrugged and told her to give them a century or so to forget about it. Seras had offered to watch some chick flicks with her like old times. Sir Integra just brusquely informed her that she could never be loved by everybody.

So she forged on relentlessly, working day and night to rebuild the blighted Middle East while attempting to show the humans that this deed was not to represent their rule. The Hellsing heiress had rescinded some of the commands binding Alucard to the Hellsing manor so that he could play a more active role in ruling their kingdom, and he and Maria attended all of the bi-monthly meetings with the gerents together. He also assumed the role of executioner that Maria had enjoyed up until now, and when the occasional coven was foolish enough to rebel he swiftly made a gruesome example of them.

In the two years after they slew the Turks, the little flake of ice the No-Life King had imparted within her had grown slightly. As Maria and Vlad were both undying beings of shadow, it was assumed that the embryo within her was the same, so it was impossible to predict if or when it would be born. Maria hoped that she wouldn't be kept waiting long.

The Nosferatu had spent the first year of her pregnancy convinced that she housed the Antichrist or something equally vile within her, but over time adopted Maria's unflappable belief that their child would be just as good or evil as they were raised to be. It was times like this that she was thankful for the way their minds were completely intertwined: if she were determined and sly enough she could sway his thoughts to reflect her own.

Upon hearing the news, Seras had burst into tears of joy. The topic whenever they spent time together now was baby names, even though it could be decades until it would be born. Pip had given a "you dog, you" smirk to Vlad, who had simply grinned back.

Sir Integra, however, had not been so delighted. She was of the same opinion as Alucard, that nothing born of the union of two monsters could be anything other than a scourge on the world. As master to both of the vampires, though, she had long been privy to Maria's thoughts. She was fully aware that a child of her own was something that the vampiress had desired nearly as much she had desired the return of her king during his thirty-year absence. Integra didn't have the heart to order her servant to rip out and destroy something so precious to her, and so had issued a lone order to be obeyed even after she and the Hellsing family had fallen to time.

Should their offspring pose a threat to humanity, Alucard and Maria were to destroy it as they would any other threat to their kingdom.

But Maria was certain that it would never come to such a heinous thing. She would raise the child well, and with Seras and Pip around they were bound to influence the child in a positive way.

 _Your first chance to sleep a full night in more than three months and you waste it on qualms,_ Vlad chastised beside her.

She nipped his bare chest and his hand on her hip tightened challengingly. It had been so long since she had had an opportunity to sleep longer than a couple hours at a time, so hectic was her schedule with the human leaders and the covens. She was in Vlad's black lacquered coffin that had become theirs, her head resting in the crook of his cool shoulder.

 _I'm anxious about tomorrow,_ she told him, tracing nonsense patterns across the broad plane of his chest with a fingertip.

He watched the trail of her finger for a moment. _What is there to be anxious about? Seras is handling all the preparations._

A huff of a troubled sigh left the brunette's lips. _I have absolute faith in Seras._

 _You worry that there will be an assault._

 _You know there's going to be one,_ Maria groaned. _Either it will be a band of humans looking to strike us down or a coven wanting freedom or something stupid._

The No Life King gave a dark chuckle. _I seem to recall a girl who once said, "You can't really call it a date if there's not at least one slaughter."_

Maria met his amused smirk with a frown. _That's totally different._

 _Caviling,_ he dismissed, and then attempted a different means to distract her from her thoughts, one that involved teeth and tongue.

She was just as weak to his advances as she had been when this had all started years ago, and in moments was lost in the bliss he shared with her. Before she knew it her worries were borne away on sighs and cries of pleasure and slumber came to her easily.

They awoke just as the sun set to Seras' chipper voice through their mental connection.

 _Master, Maria, good evening! I trust all is well. Besides some last minute tasks everything is ready and we are simply awaiting your arrival._

 _Have any of the guests arrived?_

The blonde gave a chuckle. _Oh, yes. It seems that few can wait to see the newly completed Dragwlya Castle for themselves._

Both vampires rolled their eyes in exasperation. Vampire or human, no one could resist being nosy.

"Well, then," Maria sighed, "shall we go, my king?"

In reply his shadows wrapped around them and transported them to what would soon be their new home, fully rebuilt and restored as of two days ago. Tonight was to be their first time to see it completed, and Maria couldn't wait to see how Vlad would react.

They appeared in the great hall, an absolutely cavernous room that had been filled with rows upon rows of chairs with a plush burgundy carpet running down the center and leading to a raised dais.

"Oh, good! You're here." Seras was before them in an absolutely stunning off-the-shoulder ocean blue dress. "We've only got about thirty minutes to get you both ready so let's get a move on."

The Nosferatu could not have looked less interested if he had tried. All he cared about right now was exploring every inch of the castle he had lost centuries ago. He began to sink into the stone floor when Seras grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back up.

"You'll have to explore later, I'm afraid, Master," she said chipperly, despite the fact that he was staring daggers at her.

"At this rate the guests will know more about my castle than I do," he growled.

Maria put a placating hand on his arm. "Only temporarily. It's just for a few hours."

Practically seething, he said nothing. The two draculinas took this as an improvement and grinned, and then Seras went back t0 her role as organizer.

"Master, if you'll head to the master chambers you'll find your clothes there. I'll come help you with yours, Maria."

"Clothes?" The vampire uttered the word as if it were a blaspheme. "There was no mention of clothes."

Maria rolled her eyes, but there was an exasperated smile on her lips. "I would like to remind my king that he did promise this to me two years ago-"

"-in a fit of madness-"

"-and that he would do well to endure this night with the level of dignity and grace deserving of his station."

 _Clear your schedule for the next week,_ he growled to her as he sank into the floor, looking thunderous. _You'll be spending every waking moment making this up to me._

A shiver of anticipation shot through her at his dark promise.

Seras led her through the halls and up a set of stone stairs to a guest wing of the castle. "Sorry for putting you somewhere other than the master chambers," the blonde said as she closed the door behind them. "I had a feeling that if I put you two in close proximity we wouldn't be able to keep you from certain prying eyes."

Taking in the rather lavish guest chambers with a large bed complete with a luxurious forest green duvet and fine set of mahogany furniture, Maria was quick to notice the black dry-cleaner's bag hanging from the side of a folding screen towards the corner.

"No need to apologize. I can't thank you enough for all of the hard work you've put into this for us," she said to her friend. "You haven't looked at it yet?"

"No one has seen it but you."

Maria breathed a sigh of relief. Tonight was the only chance she'd ever have to make this dream come true, and she was determined that everything would go perfectly. Alucard, as irritated as he was with having to participate in what amounted to be everything he abhorred, was bound to attempt to do whatever he could to inconvenience her. He wouldn't outright ruin it because he had promised this night to her and staying true to his word was one of his few redeemable qualities. But he would certainly do his best to rankle her.

Of course, the dress was a prime target. The groom wasn't supposed to see it until the bride walked down the aisle, and Maria had done everything in her power to prevent him from viewing it directly or indirectly. Though Seras and Maria had planned everything together, the brunette had gone alone to choose the dress and had not only locked away her recollections of it but had also wiped the memories of the shopkeepers and tailors who had made some slight alterations. She had had it placed in a bag made of her shadows and imbued them so that no one, not even Vlad, could peer within with their third eye and had then entrusted it to Puișor, who stored it away in a place even Maria was unaware of.

The two women worked together to style Maria's spiralling tresses into a divine updo that allowed a fountain of curls to cascade to the nape of her neck, with one or two shorter curls framing her youthful face.

"Are you nervous?" Seras asked as Maria stared into the glinting sapphire and emerald on her finger.

"I'm nervous about what calamity will strike and who will be behind it," she replied with a wry smile.

"Leave that to me and Pip. I mean, are you nervous about marrying Master?"

"What's there to be nervous about? I've considered myself his for all of my life. I just wanted an excuse to wear a wedding dress and shove cake into his face."

Seras chuckled as she added another bobby pin to the updo to keep an unruly curl in place. "I'll make sure to have the photographers at the ready. That's a moment I want to immortalize."

The two laughed for a bit, even though in the back of at least Maria's mind she could feel the vampire in question's throbbing ire. He could put up with her selfish demands for one night, though. Besides, the more she irritated him with this wedding the more delicious her punishment from him would be.

"Well, I'd say my work here is done," the blonde said after a couple final adjustments of Maria's cascading curls. She smiled down at her friend in the mirror, positively beaming as she wrapped her arms around her from behind. "I'm so happy for you both," she whispered. "Master was gone for so long, and I was so worried that something would happen to you. But he came back to you, together you've created a whole empire, and...he seems happier since his return."

Maria placed her warm hands over Seras', a small smile growing on her lips. It was true that the past three decades had been harrowing without him by her side, but it had all come together in the end. What they had accomplished could be considered miraculous. And what his fledgling had said about him was true; Vlad did appear to be slightly happier, particularly since they had defeated the Turks once and for all. He wasn't a grinning fool, and his appetite for destruction hadn't dullened, but there was a certain lightness to his presence in her mind. With his five-hundred year old enemies slain by his hands, his kingdom established, and bride at his side with child, what more could he wish for?

"Thank you again for all you've done," Maria said warmly. "If not for you and Pip taking our places as Master's help, we wouldn't have been able to accomplish everything we have."

Seras rose to her full height and gave her friend one more grin before heading to the door. "I've got a few more things to check on before the ceremony starts. Everyone's taking their seats in the great hall now. Be at the entrance in thirty minutes."

The brunette nodded and watched as her best friend closed the door behind her quietly. The room was filled with a sweet silence as Maria took in her appearance in the armoire mirror before her. Though she was now forty-eight years old, she didn't look a day over twenty. Her fiery cinnabar eyes were alight with excitement for tonight, and the small smile she wore was brimming with joy.

"It's a shame you couldn't have made it for tonight," she said, putting a hand over her stomach. "We could have used a flower girl or an usher."

She sat there for a few more long moments, caressing her stomach and imagining what it would be like when their child finally arrived. Then she made a quick check to see where Vlad was. Their connection told her that he was drifting through the halls invisibly, avoiding the straggling guests to explore his castle for the first time. Certain that he was too absorbed in rediscovering his home to spy on her, she unzipped the bag that held her dress and slid into it, using her shadows to tighten the laces of the bodice in the back smoothely. Lastly, she secured the veil over her face and placed her crown snugly on top. A vampire's third eye made the veil utterly meaningless, but Maria was determined to do everything properly.

She took one more look in the mirror and, satisfied with what she saw, took an anxious breath and faded into her shadows.

Since his human days the No-Life King had made it a point never to regret anything, as remorse was nothing but an hindrance. But he certainly wished he had never promised this to his frivolous bride. Ceremony, pretense, romance, social interaction—this evening was full of everything he loathed.

He stood at the altar at the front of the great hall before the eyes of six-hundred of the most important humans and vampires of the world, waiting for Maria to appear. A string quartet was playing a rendition of Mendelssohn's Wedding March and four photographers were flitting about the room like flies. His master was standing beside him with a Bible in hand, looking as no-nonsense as ever even in a forest green dress that brought out the bright blue of her eye spectacularly. Seras and the Frenchman were seated in the front row on either side of the aisle.

Absently he imagined just how much chaos he could create if he slaughtered everyone here, how all the countries of the world would fall into panic and the vampires within each coven would battle for leadership.

His musings were short-lived, however, as the towering double doors to the hall opened and as his eyes fell on his bride it felt as though he had returned to her for the first time all over again. He had long found her body captivating, but tonight he realized that the word "beautiful" could do her no justice.

Maria seemed to glide down the velveted aisle and to him at an unhurried pace, allowing everyone in the room to drink in her grace. The dress she wore was, much like her, understatedly complex. The creme-colored fabric hugged her every curve exquisitely, accentuating her breasts and revealing a tasteful amount of cleavage before tapering at her waist. The plentiful material revealed the contours of her hips before fanning out into a train that drifted to an end a few feet behind her. The entire dress was a wonderfully detailed scalloped lace that had been handmade, and beneath it was a layer of silk. There were no gaudy sequins or pearls to complicate it; it was simple and it simultaneously looked like something he could imagine seeing back in the past yet remained fashionable. It was timeless, just as they were.

When she gave him a small smile of promise from behind the veil his dead heart gave a leap in his chest. The desire to rip off the veil and taste her flawless flesh anew was almost overpowering.

The entire room had become still as everyone was bewitched by her beauty, and it wasn't until she came to stand beside her groom and Sir Integra cleared her throat that the spell broke.

Their master spoke clearly and smoothely, as though this wasn't the first time she had used her status as a holy warrior of the Queen to wed someone. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today in the sight of God, and in the face of this company, to join together this Vampire and Vampiress in unholy Matrimony. Into this unholy estate these two persons present come now to be joined. If any man or vampire can show just cause, why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him now speak, or else hereafter forever hold his peace."

For all Maria's fears of an insurgency, no one moved. A smirk curled Vlad's cold lips as his master continued. He wasn't listening to a single word she was saying, so riveted was he by his queen and the tremulous smile she was giving him, as though this were a dream too good to possibly come true. As he stood in his newly rebuilt castle, surrounded by the most powerful people in the world who all feared and respected him, he had to wonder if perhaps he wasn't just imagining it. Perhaps this was the next realm of Purgatory, and sooner or later this idyllic life would be ripped away to reveal the cruel reality of the pain and agony he deserved.

But, as he took Maria's hand into his own at his master's behest and repeated the necessary words, the truth of this moment and this world sank into him with the warmth of her fingers. This _was_ real. And it had all been made possible by the extraordinary woman before him.

He had known from the moment he first found her that she was special. That something in her little soul cried out to his. However, he could never have foreseen exactly how his existence would turn out with her at his side, and even if he could, it was too ludicrous to believe.

"Remove your gloves."

It had come time for the exchange of rings, and his master was even allowing him to remove his binds entirely. A wide grin grew on his lips as he pulled the white gloves off and they vanished into nothingness. With their disappearance the chains and binds on his power slackened and faded away, and he held back a satisfied laugh. He watched as Maria took apart the gimmel ring and slid the half with the emerald onto his ring finger where it sat perfectly.

"Forasmuch as Vlad and Maria have consented together in wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God and this company, and thereto have given and pledged their troth, each to the other, and have declared the same by giving and receiving a Ring, and by joining hands, I pronounce that they are Husband and Wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Finally he was able to do what he had wanted to ever since she had come through those doors. With his bare hands he flipped the veil over her head to reveal her in all her glory, positively beaming up at him. Maria didn't just radiate the warmth of her body; all of her joy and affection for him filled their connection like a symphony as he pulled her into a kiss that was neither gentle nor sweet but was honest and powerful. Her bouquet of all white nasturtiums, gladioli, and lilies of the valley vanished as she threw her arms around his neck and pressed herself fully against him.

The crowd of onlookers rose and began clapping, but Vlad didn't care in the slightest as his shadows entwined with hers, sharing with her all of the pride he felt in calling her his.

 _Have you seen the master bedroom yet?_ he asked as he slid his bare hands across the lace of her dress and to her ass. He was consumed with the need to feel every inch of her tantalizingly searing flesh before their master returned his shackles.

 _No, but it wouldn't do for us to skip our own reception,_ she said, nipping his tongue playfully.

 _In my time, the union had to be consummated within the hour or it would become null._

 _You liar,_ Maria laughed, and then pulled away from him with a grin, vermillion eyes aglow with her desire for him. _I researched wedding practices from the 15th century long ago. Fulfill your promise to me for just a few more hours and then you can have me anywhere and any way you like._

Vlad gave her one more brief but hungry kiss before releasing her. _I won't forget those words._

Seras was directing the guests out of the great hall and towards the gardens, where the reception was to be held. Their master still stood beside them at the altar, looking thoroughly displeased.

"This is a wedding ceremony," she ground out to her two servants, "which is supposed to be a holy covenant between you and the Lord. Don't profane it any further."

Maria gave a small chuckle but managed to look slightly contrite. "Of course, Master. Shall we head to the gardens?"

The three of them strode in silence through the lovely halls decorated with tapestries and paintings of pastoral countrysides until they reached a pair of great oaken doors that opened up to the gardens, which sprawled on for nearly an entire acre. A white stone path led to a fountain, and beyond that was a maze of shrubberies, rose bushes, and a menagerie of other plants. Strings of small lights had been strung along the paths for the human guests present, bathing the area in a soft glow. The late August evening was pleasantly warm with a light breeze, and the sky was full of dazzling stars and an almost full-moon.

The string quartet from the ceremony had been replaced by a dj with a fine setup, who was currently playing a lilting, smoothe classical melody as everyone mingled about in the large open area around the fountain, with the humans and vampires attempting to keep as much distance away from each other as possible.

Maria took a mic from the dj as he lowered the volume of the music to a soft background level.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention, please." Everyone stopped their conversations and looked towards her immediately, and she gave them all a warm smile as she continued, "I'd like to extend a heartfelt thanks to everyone here not only for attending but also for making this night possible. I'm happy to be able to usher in this exciting new stage of our existence surrounded by friends both new and old, and I hope that as time passes our bonds grow even stronger and deeper. Please enjoy the refreshments and music."

With that the music resumed and waiters began to pass out glasses of champagne and white wine, and Maria looped an arm around her surly husband to keep him from vanishing and avoiding the least pleasant part of the night. Even though he had been attending the bi-monthly gerent meetings with her for the past few months, he wasn't doing it out of interest. More often than not he allowed Maria to conduct the entire meeting while he sat beside her looking horribly bored. The only parts of rule that he was interested in were war and power, though he reluctantly admitted that it was important to show his face to his constituents from time to time.

She dragged him through the throngs of humans and vampires, graciously accepting compliments and congratulations. Vlad followed, stony-faced and silent unless directly spoken to, but she just grinned and took it in stride.

 _Not too much longer,_ she promised him.

 _My thirty years in purgatory felt shorter than this night._

A giggle bubbled up from within her and she took him by his bare hand to lead him back to the fountain, where a long table full of slices of cake had been readied. In the center was a beautiful five-tiered white cake decorated with edible pearls and gold flakes.

The Nosferatu looked to the food and one eyebrow shot up in incredulity. "You aren't serious," he muttered lowly.

"Oh, I'm dead serious," she grinned, and took the knife that Seras was holding out to her. "Now take my hand and help me slice this, if you please."

The guests had all returned to the fountain area to watch, and the photographers were drifting hither and thither like fireflies with the flashes of their cameras. He leveled her with a murderous look as he placed his ice cold hand over her warm one and together they raised the blade. They couldn't have been more contrasting in that moment, Maria with her carefree grin and the No-Life King with a thunderous scowl. He looked as though he were preparing to slice into an enemy instead of a confection.

And then, just as the blade began to descend towards the masterpiece of a cake, all hell broke loose. She felt more than saw the glint of Vlad's crimson eyes change from vicious to gleeful for the briefest of moments, and in between one second and the next the simple knife in their hands had changed into her greatsword. The enormous blade cleaved the cake and table effortlessly and the surroundings were splattered with frosting and flour shrapnel.

Alucard was laughing maniacally as Maria seethed with rage, and a hush fell upon the crowd as the two most powerful monsters in the world looked like they could go to war with each other.

"I'll run you through with this sword," Maria vowed. "Do you have _any_ idea how much I was looking forward to this cake?"

"A cake you can't even eat," he scoffed, a devious grin splitting his mouth to reveal his fangs.

She took a fistful of the ruined cake into her hand and lunged at him, yelling, "Eat this!"

He just laughed deeply and madly as she leapt at him, her sword vanishing into the ether as she pounced upon him, shoving the handful of cake into his stupidly wide grin and in the process smearing it all over his flawless visage.

His shadows wrapped around her hips to keep her in place against his chest as his face contorted into a grimace that swiftly turned to shock when the cake didn't turn to disgusting ash in his mouth.

"What is this sorcery?" he demanded of her.

She growled, "You have no idea the lengths I went to to get this cake."

"Do I taste…" He paused, attempting to recall the names of flavors he hadn't tasted in centuries. "...raspberry?"

"Yes."

"And what is this fragrant sweetness?"

Her scowl turned even sourer. "Vanilla. This cake was the very pinnacle of modern chemistry, bordering on alchemy."

Vlad wasn't capable of contrition, but he found himself giving her a small smile as his shadows brought him a lump of mangled cake. "It'd be a shame if you didn't taste it."

And then he shoved it into her face much as she had just done to him, though even in this he was cruel in that while Maria had gotten as much in his mouth as on his face, he made it a point to wipe the majority of it on her nose, cheeks and lips and then finally inserted a cool finger into her mouth, which she licked and sucked on with relish.

For the Nosferatu, who except for a brief twelve-hour period immediately upon his return had been denied the sensation of touch for over a century, his lust was ignited the very instant his bride gave him a dirty smirk and swirled her tongue around it in a filthy pantomime.

Pink-faced, Seras gave a nervous chuckle and said loudly, "Well, it's a good thing we had a cake separate for the guests. Humans, please take the cake on the left. Vampires, please take the cake on the right. I'd strongly advise both parties not to make a mistake."

Vlad's hold around her waist slackened as he withdrew his finger from her mouth, though his eyes lingered on hers, smouldering with his desire.

She procured a handkerchief out of thin air and wiped the cake off his face and then her own, her ire gone and replaced with a want equal to his.

 _May it please my king,_ she said as she offered him a plate of unmaimed dessert, _to know that I have another cake stored away for us to share privately later._

And please him it did. Much to Maria's relief he seemed content to stick by her side for the rest of the evening, taciturn but not openly antagonistic. He even had the magnanimity to give her her first dance as a married couple, spinning her about the gardens in a passionate tango as their guests looked on enviously. Their effortless swirls and steps were graceful even by vampiric standards. Though nearly all vampire couples shared a mental bond of some sort, few if any were linked by such an unmitigated and pervasive bond as Vlad and Maria's. Each knew the other so well that even though it was their first time doing the tango together each step felt as simple as a stroll. When he swept her into a low dip and dragged his tongue and teeth up her neck and to her lips before pulling her back to his chest, not a soul in the crowd could tear their greedy gaze away.

When the song concluded everyone burst into applause and cheers, and Maria gave a soft laugh, placing a hand on her groom's chest. He was staring into the distance with a blank expression, but she could see the faintest hint of warmth in his gaze.

The reception continued on for several more hours of dance and talk until it reached two a.m. and it became time to start sending people home, lest some of their nocturnal guests get stranded in the sunrise.

The dj turned down the music one final time and Maria took the mic to thank everyone once more, but when Sir Hellsing came up to her with a hand outstretched she handed the mic to her master. Integra had spent the evening speaking with various human politicians and a few of the vampires the Hellsing Organization had had dealings with in the past, and the curly-haired vampiress couldn't guess what she could want to say to the people gathered before them.

"Before we end this night, I have an announcement to make," the heiress said in her usual brusque, to-the-point fashion. "As you all know, Alucard has been in the service of my family for over a hundred years now, and Maria for her entire fifty years on this earth. Both have served faithfully and, overall, have done good in this world."

The Nosferatu stood at the front of the crowd and a couple yards from his favorite master, the smallest hint of a smile plucking at his lips, as though he were in on some huge joke and were waiting for the punchline to drop. Seras and Pip were to his left looking a bit perplexed.

Sir Integra continued, "Now that the Ottomans are gone, the vampire world is united under one rule for the first time in history, ushering in a hitherto unseen time of cooperation between vampires and humans. That said, this empire was built upon a foundation of innocent human lives, and for this reason there are many humans who fear and revile their reign. Justly so, I might add."

A frown downturned Maria's lips. Though the assault of the Ottoman Empire had been a little over two years ago, the remorse was still a fresh and deep wound that constantly ached. The vampires in the crowd remained largely unmoved, but the majority of the humans took on troubled expressions. Many of them were still feeling betrayed by and uneasy about the vampires despite all of Maria's tireless efforts to assuage them. Truth be told, the majority of the human guests present tonight hadn't come out of a desire to be there. Much like the invitations they extended to Maria and her groom, it was a necessary evil of the vicious world of politics.

"That said, I truly believe that what these two did was for the good of mankind overall, and I believe that their rule will be just. To help restore the faith of the world in Alucard and Maria, as a voucher of my trust in them, and as a reward for their invaluable service, I hereby release them from their servitude to the Hellsing family."

Maria gave an audible gasp as the red pentagram on her hip burned like a hot iron before fading away like steam on the wind and the chains and binds wrapped around her powers crumbled to dust. It was almost as though she had been wrapped in gauze all this time and it had been peeled away in one swift motion to allow her to feel the breeze on her skin once more, alleviating and invigorating. Vlad gave a dark chuckle, and the crooked grin he wore as he looked at his former master was brimming with his delight.

The two vampires knelt before the grizzled woman before them in unison.

"It has been an honor," the No-Life King told her.

"Rise," Integra said with pleased smirk. "You're a count no longer. You bow to no one."

"We will always bow to you and your legacy," swore Maria.

The two rose to their full heights and shared a satisfied smile. The crowd behind them had very mixed reactions: the vampires were ecstatic that their king and queen were finally free of all their binds, while the humans seemed largely alarmed. Only a few, particularly those that had known Maria and Vlad the longest, were unaffected.

"Well," Maria said into the mic the blonde passed back to her, more than slightly flummoxed, "on that note, I'd like to thank you all for coming and wish you a pleasant night. Your presence here means so very much to us. Thank you."

Vlad stood at her side as foreboding and silent as ever, in stark contrast to his beaming bride. Many of the guests made their way towards the two of them to congratulate them once more before taking their leave via a fleet of limos were waiting outside the main gates of the castle.

Finally, only the five of them remained in the grand foyer. There were dark circles under Sir Hellsing's eyes, but she regarded her former servants warmly. Maria took in each and every one of her treasured family before her, committing this moment to eternity. Pip looked the exact same as he had when they had first met and she had been playing interdimensional tag with Alucard's hellhound, except his one visible eye had turned sanguine and he had traded in his mercenary garb for a tux at Seras' behest. He had lost the jacket at some point and only wore the tan vest over an off-white dress shirt, but that look suited him best. He wore an easy grin on his face with an arm slung around the draculina's waist. Whether it was leading the Hellsing soldiers, jamming out to classic rock full blast with Maria, or bringing Seras a hot chocolate when she had spent all day and night assisting Sir Integra, he had become an unexpected but irreplaceable member of their family.

With the same short haircut, lively crimson eyes, and smile that could light up even the bleakest darkness, Seras, too, was utterly unchanged from when Maria had first met her as a toddler. Alucard had turned her in Cheddar not only because Seras still had fight in her but because he had felt that Maria needed a more positive influence in her life if she were to retain her humanity, and it had been one the best decisions he had ever made. The police girl had proven herself a thousand times over in the past four decades, despite her overflowing compassion that Alucard had long viewed as a shortcoming. She had become Maria's closest friend and second most trusted confidant (though in some areas Seras was much more reliable than her sire). How many nights had they whittled away watching silly movies and gossipping? The two had provided to each other what no one else could: the sensation of being human. Though in the past couple decades their increased responsibilities had made it nigh impossible to have a girl's night like back in the day, their camaraderie hadn't been diminished in the slightest.

Sir Integra was the only one whose looks had undergone substantial changes since Maria had first met her. Though Maria had no memories of it, Integra had been but a girl of eleven when Alucard had brought her back to Hellsing manor as an infant. As the years passed and Maria graduated from a child to soldier to queen, their relationship had shifted. Sir Integra was in some ways more aloof than even the Nosferatu. Hardened by her harrowing childhood and demanding duties to Queen and country, she kept everyone at arm's length. Of the three men she had ever trusted, one had died and the other two had betrayed her, so perhaps she couldn't be blamed. Despite Integra's coolness, Maria viewed her old master as something of a distant but nonetheless dear elder sister. The advice she had given Maria throughout the long thirty years of building her empire had been just as invaluable as the Hellsing family seal that kept her from losing control of powers too strong for any human to have.

Vlad was beside Maria wearing the same blank expression he often wore, and though he was in the form of the mad prince with slightly shaggy black locks and a youthful face that easily turned to a haughty sneer, he looked kingly tonight. It had nothing to do with the impeccably tailored shadow gray tuxedo that he had been forced into wearing tonight, though it was certainly stunning on him. This was a change that had been decades, perhaps even centuries in the making.

It was no secret that the No-Life King was at his very core a man who had been so broken and beleaguered by the cruelty of fate that, in his darkest hour, he had traded in his heart and faith for evil power. The deep wounds caused by betrayal and strife had been immortalized in his body of shadows, forever open and festering. He had hidden them with bloodlust, but they had only been worsened by the crippling defeat and enslavement he had faced at the hands of Van Helsing so long ago. After all, he had succumbed to the Night so that he would never have to suffer the humiliation of loss again, and it had all been for naught. The mad prince version of Alucard that had found Maria as a babe was a reflection in a cracked mirror, distorted and jagged.

Despite their bond and despite her ability to glimpse souls Maria was unable to say with certainty what had been the catalyst, but over the years the mirror had been, shard by shard, pieced back together to reveal the true identity of the Nosferatu. The vampire who stood before her now was not the crazed fiend Alucard but the noble king Vlad Dragwlya, who was not entirely incapable of feeling and remembered what it was like to be filled with something other than vitriol. Still irreparably damaged in some ways, certainly, but not entirely beyond ruined. When he looked upon Maria and when he placed a cool hand over her stomach to feel their child within her, there was a distant but unquestionable spark of sentiment in his gaze.

Perhaps it was the unintended effect of sharing such pervasive bonds with Maria and Seras, whose tenderness washed over his subconscious constantly. Perhaps it was Sir Integra, who had awakened not only his consciousness but also his very soul when she had stumbled into his dungeons, a five-foot tall girl with mile-high tenacity. The blonde heiress had unintentionally shown him how remarkable humans are, reminded him that they were more than spineless and opportunistic dogs.

Maybe it had been his thirty years in purgatory where he had spent every single moment knocking down his victims for a second time, forcing him to face the spectres of his past that he had longed to keep buried away until oblivion. Those who had hurt him the most had been the first he had murdered upon joining the Night, and they were therefore the last that he faced before returning to reality. His little brother who had thrown away home, family, and faith for their captors. His father, who had used him and his brother as disposable pawns. His sons who had not been of help to him during his attempts to regain his rightful throne. His wife who had had the gall to remarry immediately upon his final capture. Vlad had had to look each one of them in the eyes for the first time in five hundred years and he had been nearly overwhelmed by the maelstrom of painful memories that they dredged up, but the agony had been tempered by time and he had been able to make more sense of it this time around.

Perhaps the definitive end to his war with the Ottomans was also a reason for the softening of his edges. He had been fueled by his hatred for them for half a millennium, and when he felled the final sultan by running a hand through his chest and ripping out his heart, Vlad had felt as though a boulder that had been crushing his lungs had been lifted. With their demise had also come the consolidation of a kingdom more expansive and powerful than he could have ever dreamt of as a man.

Maybe it was knowing that, for the first time ever, he was surrounded by people who would never fail him. Seras and Maria would sooner turn to ash than betray him, and both were powerful enough that he need not worry for their safety. The two of them also loved him in their own ways, Seras revering him for bestowing upon her a chance to transcend the dark horrors of her human life, Maria cherishing him and everything he had given her. Too long had he been reviled, feared, and misunderstood by all around him, but those nights were over.

And perhaps the little bit of himself that was slowly but surely taking shape within his bride was another reason for this change. He knew better than most the pivotal effects upbringing could have on the psyche, and he was determined not to spoil what could be the greatest treasure he would ever gain in this Unlife.

No matter the cause, it was evident that something was very gradually sanding down his jagged edges and making him less the hideous monster he had become.

Maria gave him a tender smile and he ignored her, which was just as well because Sir Integra addressed them.

"Well, I must say that you vampires can throw a great party," she said, "though it went on a bit too long for my liking."

The brunette laughed. "You're not the only one to lament its length. This one's been complaining for months."

The "one" in question gave her a scowl, one fang poking dangerously out from his lips.

"I can't help but notice that you never threw the bouquet," Integra commented.

"Oh, that." Maria had vanished it into some dark pocket of the universe so she could kiss her groom and had completely forgotten about it. A nefarious idea popped into her head and before anyone other than Vlad could notice she summoned the bundle of white flowers and hurled it at the unsuspecting target.

Crimson eyes wide, Seras' hand shout out reflexively to catch the projectile, and Pip gave a groan and buried his head in his hands. He muttered, "Why do you gotta do this shit to me, ma moitie?"

Maria just laughed as a grin sweet and honest burgeoned on the draculina's lips the longer the stared at the flowers. "Consider it my last act as your matchmaker."

Sir Integra watched their conversation for a few moments, an unreadable expression on her wizened face. Maria lamented the loss of their mental connection that had faded with the seal, as it was difficult to read her and she would never dare invade her privacy by listening in to her thoughts without permission. Her previous master appeared to be both happy but also sorrowful. The vampires around her were her closest companions and allies, and while they remained evergreen she was slipping further and further into old age.

"Well, we should be heading back," Seras said presently. "We've already had all of your things brought over, but I hope that you'll be stopping by to visit us."

"Don't be strangers," Pip added.

"Of course not," smiled Maria, and she wrapped each and every one of them into hugs. "Thank you so much. We'll be dropping by when we have the time. And if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask. The seals may be gone but we'll always be loyal to you, Sir Integra."

The blonde gave a slight smile as she lit a cigar. "I expect you both to be on your best behavior even though the enchantment is gone. I don't give a damn if you're in Romania or Timbuktu, I'll send my best to rein you back in."

Vlad gave a trite half-bow, grinning. "I expect no less, my lady."

Sir Integra and her escorts got into the final limo waiting and Vlad and Maria watched until the headlights went over the horizon and faded from their natural line of sight.

* * *

 **A/N:** I know that some readers were saying they wanted a wedding. I wanted one too, dammit. And I also know that I'm very likely to catch flack for purposefully breaking Alucard's character.

But I'd like to believe that this personality would be within the realm of possibility. Alucard chose Seras for a particular reason, and the smile he gave her when he was the Count was genuinely kind. So it's not like he isn't capable of being somewhat reasonable. Besides, if he really is to become the king of the night, he can't do it with an iron fist.

What do you think? Should I be burned at the stake for my blasphemy? Haha leave a review.


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N:** The final chapter is here, and it's a whopper. 22 single-spaced pages. Enjoy!

* * *

The very instant they were alone Vlad's arm snaked around Maria's waist and he pulled her to him.

"Come," he ordered, and with a happy sigh she resigned herself to several days and nights of punishment for making him suffer through this evening.

On a usual night, her groom would have simply phased them to the bedroom, vanished their clothes to the shadows, and gotten straight down to business. But tonight he took his time, walking with her through each wing and hall of the castle until they had both seen every room. As the original castle had been built for a mere voivode and not for the king of the vampire world, they had expanded upon it greatly. They had added additional wings enough to host two hundred people and had modernized it to include electricity, running water, and all the other amenities of the twenty-first century. The kitchens and dining hall were capable of feeding three hundred, though currently the cabinets and fridges were barren. Vlad had scoffed at the needless extravagance, but Maria had reminded him that it was likely that they would host humans at some point in the future, to which he gave an irritated roll of his eyes. The only humans he wanted stepping foot over the threshold were meals.

They made their way through the halls at a leisurely pace, never using their powers to glide through walls and doors but instead walking like humans. Occasionally upon entering a room Vlad's cool hands would slink up to her breasts and he would seize her throat or mouth in a bellicose kiss that left her ready to have a meltdown. He shoved her onto a lavish silk duvet in a guest bedroom and crawled on top of her, holding her by the wrists to prevent her from doing anything other than writhe desperately against him as he worked her into a frenzy with his tongue and teeth.

Just when she was about to use her powers to phase out of his hold so she could give a taste of this torture to him, he pulled away from her, sucking on her bottom lip as he did so. There was a mischievous sparkle in his crimson gaze as he rose to his full height and offered a bare hand to her in a paradoxically gentlemanly fashion.

"To the next room," he said plainly, as though he hadn't just spent the last three minutes driving her mad.

"Y-yes." Maria hastened to fix a few curls that had been freed from their bobby pin shackles in the tussle and followed him to the next room, which they surveyed briefly before moving on to the next.

Any questions regarding his stop and start behavior yielded nothing, not even a flicker of nefarious glee on his expressionless face. She had no choice but to resign herself to his cruel new game.

In the kitchens he lifted her effortlessly onto the marble counters and gave her a fiery kiss, losing his fingers in her long curls that had by now mostly fallen out of the intricate updo. This was the sixth time he had suddenly barraged her with his passion and she didn't think she had ever been so desperate to feel him inside her in her whole existence. Her entire being ached for him and she found herself doing anything she could in the hopes to break his cool facade, but each and every time he kept her from touching him by pinning her wrists behind her back or to the wall. All Maria could really do was throw herself into his kisses and press herself as fully against him as possible. The material of her wedding dress was so bountiful that she couldn't even wrap her legs around him.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she demanded when he pulled away from another soul-searing kiss. She found herself squeezing her thighs together in an attempt to give herself even the smallest bit of gratification. His fingers had ghosted up her arms, to the nape of her neck, gotten lost in her long tresses, and had grabbed hungrily at her breasts, but not once had they strayed elsewhere. Maria, whose body was usually operating at a temperature much hotter than average, felt as though she would burst into flames if this continued for another moment.

The corners of the Nosferatu's lips pricked up in a slight but cocky smirk. "Does it bother you?"

" _Bother_ is nowhere near strong enough a word," she growled, and when she leaned forward to give him a demanding kiss he moved back just out of her reach. "We've seen every single room in the entire castle. The sun rose an hour ago. I'm so wet it's a wonder I don't slip right off his counter. Can't we end this torture and get to the part where you impale me?"

Vlad gave a dark chuckle as he grabbed her by the hips to stand her back up. "To the final room, then," was all he said.

With a frustrated sigh his bride walked alongside him up the grand stairway and towards the last room yet for her to see, and her heart leapt when she realized what room it was.

The master chambers were truly magnificent. The intricately hand-carved mahogany furniture was perhaps a bit too extravagant for Maria's humbler tastes, but the dark wood coupled with the deep burgundy drapes guaranteed to keep out every last ray of light and the subtly embossed ivory wallpaper went together well. But the most stunning part of the room was the bed. Larger even than a king-sized bed, there was enough room for the two of them and at least six other people if they ever developed that particular itch. A small mountain range of soft white pillows rested atop a satin duvet such a deep red it was nearly black, and Maria was immediately overcome with the desire to sink into it.

"Ah, ah," Vlad tutted, sensing her thoughts. "You're not to so much as blink without my permission."

So this was where her punishment would truly begin. He stood halfway between the door and the bed, looking at her imperiously. Maria crossed the room to him and waited patiently for his next command.

"Turn around," he drawled.

She did as told, having to resist the urge to roll her eyes. She knew from experience that whether it be on the battlefield or in the bedroom he was worse than a cat with a mouse when it came to drawing out his playtime.

A soft gasp of surprise nearly escaped her lips when she felt his cool hands on her bare shoulders, his touch so light it almost tickled. Seldom if ever did the No-Life King deign to be anything other than vociferous with her and she was taken aback by his unexpected gentleness, especially given his exceedingly teasing and wanton behavior during their tour of the castle. His fingertips left a chill in their wake like delicate trails of frost on a pane of glass.

Curious as to what he planned for her punishment, Maria reached out through their mental connection but ran into a wall that he had erected between them, stopping her short of discovering his thoughts and feelings.

"You are not to use your third eye," he decreed.

His bride gave an irritable huff. "This is ridiculous."

"You," Vlad hissed, his cool breath on her neck as his hair tickled her, "are also not to speak unless I permit it, orally or otherwise."

Normally Maria would have defied him in a heartbeat, as she knew that he secretly loved it when she did so, but she had the distinct feeling that tonight was different. Besides, he had kept his promise to her marvelously, and he would become an absolute devil if she didn't properly reward him.

So when the No-Life King's fingertips danced across her feverish flesh like a cool breeze, when he pressed against her back and dipped his head low to press surprisingly soft kisses to the nape of her neck, and even when his tongue traced hypnotic patterns along her exposed collarbone, she remained silent. Her only reaction was to reach up to thread her fingers through his mercurial locks as she slid as closely to him as possible, though her knees trembled with her need for him.

As always, he seemed to know when he had pushed her to the edge. Maria could feel his fanged grin on her skin as he began to undo the fine silk ties of the corseted bodice of her dress, and again she was taken aback when he chose not to use his powers for the somewhat tedious task.

But just as odd as her groom's determination to do everything manually was the peculiar sensation that the morning light brought with it.

Daylight had a strange effect on vampires of their calibre. Upon sunrise the weaker of their species would be rendered practically comatose and not even a stake through the heart would rouse them. The stronger a vampire was, the greater their resistance to sun, yet even Vlad and Maria were not completely impervious to its powers. When the ritual had just begun Maria had seen her abilities wane substantially during the day, and this effect gradually decreased as she became more powerful. Now, both she and Vlad were functional and wide awake if they needed to be, though their bodies naturally told them that it was time to rest.

Their strength wasn't dampened in any way, but their sense of feeling was slightly dullened. If she had to liken it to a human sensation, Maria would say it was close to the warm and disarming lull she had felt waking up surrounded by the thick blankets and Alucard's protective hold. Her third eye and the powers of the Night heightened all of her senses to a level incomprehensible to a human and the hub-bub of the world was a cacophonous murmur that she couldn't completely turn off. She could tune it out, but there was a little bit of her that had its ear up to the speaker at all times, ready to relay anything of use to her. But as the sun peeked above the hills and began its ascent, the background hum fell almost completely silent. Both of them enjoyed the quiet for different reasons— Maria because it was a reprieve from a life that was already quite boisterous and Vlad because he enjoyed the idea of being caught unawares.

It was hard to explain, but the dullness of their senses actually made the other's touch all the more acute. With the static of life no longer crowding their minds, they were allowed to focus only on what they could see, hear, and touch before them. It added a whole other level of intimacy that their shadows and mind-reading could never do.

So when Vlad's fingertips danced down her shoulders and arms and then slid up the lace bodice of her dress to cup her full breasts softly, she all but melted into him. It felt like she was sixteen again and everything was so new and exhilarating she had to remember to breathe.

 _Breathe_. She had only been a vampire for two short years and her body was still prone to do unnecessary things when she was distracted, and that gave her a brilliant idea. Whether her groom would find it as great she was unsure.

"My king," she whispered, and his tongue stilled against her pulsepoint. "Would you let me try something? I'll stop if you don't like it."

"Do as you wish," he murmured, and resumed sucking at her neck as his cool hands slipped into her dress to caress and squeeze her breasts.

She wondered at his unusual whimsy for a second, unable to believe that he would still make concessions when he had already fulfilled his promise to her. Then she focused her powers and very carefully willed a portion of her shadows to enter his body. As it wrapped around his still heart he froze, as he had witnessed on countless occasions what her shadows did when they wormed into her victims.

But tonight their goal was not to take but to bestow. The shadows brought with them all of the excess heat of Maria's body and used it to chase away the cold that had plagued him for half a millennium until the two of them were the same temperature. He drew her even closer to him in surprise, but a small smile grew on her lips because she wasn't finished.

"Do you trust me?" she whispered.

Vlad offered her no response but he began to tug the dress down and off, so Maria took it as a yes. He had thrown open the gates of his mind, removed all of the shackles on everything he kept private from even her, for the first time. He had exposed himself to her in the most intimate way possible, and simply the knowledge that he would let her get so close to his core filled her with a want and adoration that made her tremble for him all the more.

His defenses down, Maria was free to send her shadows into his mind to cast a minor illusion over him as she did the same to herself, and he gave a deep gasp as his heart began thumping out a steady, low beat in his chest.

"Ce este asta?" he breathed in sheer incredulity.

Maria stepped out of her dress and was completely bare before him. When she turned around to face him, she was surprised to see that at some point he had changed into a version of himself that she had never seen before. His cerulean gaze was bright with youth, and there wasn't a single line on his roguishly handsome face. He couldn't have been older than eighteen. His black waves were a bit past his shoulders, his hands were calloused from training for battle, and there was one lone freckle on his left cheek that she longed to kiss.

Her body had already changed to match his of its own accord, and she pressed her nude teenage form against his fully-clothed one as she whispered in Romanian, "Let's pretend that we did this the right way. From the start."

She had expected him to scoff at her, to give his dark chuckle and make fun of her stupid romanticism. But something had changed in him the moment she had stoked the fire of his heart—his blue eyes shot wide with desire and he kissed her with deep abandon. Maria was quick to recover from her shock and began to work on loosening his tie and shedding his many layers as he rested covetous and warm palms over her every inch.

Finally they were bare and they pulled away to look at the other. For Maria, at least, it really was her first time gazing upon him like this. She had only ever seen his body when his shadows had polished and perfected it, but now she could see each little mar and scar that had its own story. A silver streak like a comet on his shoulder, perhaps an arrow that had narrowly missed its mark. A thick scar a couple inches long a bit above his belly button, either from a surgery or assassination attempt. How she longed to know each and every facet of his being—

She was pulled from her musings by a warm hand on her cheek and she looked up to meet his bright eyes.

"There is no fairer woman in all the lands," he told her, and a blush dusted her cheeks.

She muttered, "Flatterer," and reached out to touch his broad, muscular chest hesitantly. It felt as though she were in front of a stranger.

A deep, amused chuckle escaped his lips, but it lacked the sinister edge that she was so accustomed to. Vlad took his other hand to press hers against his nude body.

"Why are you so shy? We are betrothed, are we not?"

"Yes, but...this is new to me."

Vlad gave her a grin that was pure sin and leant in to give her a brief and salacious kiss that left her whimpering for more. There was the Nosferatu that she knew.

He tucked a stray curl behind her ear as he led them to the bed, and he crawled over her so that he was resting between her spread legs but not touching her.

"A virgin, then?" he smirked. "I'll remedy that."

Maria's eyes grew wide as his words sank in. She had told him to pretend, but just how far was he taking this? She covered her surprise in a flash with a nervous half-smile and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him to her, relishing the way their bodies fit together perfectly no matter what form they took. Having spent her entire life craving his icy touch, it almost felt wrong for his warmth to feel so good, but then he gave her that same wicked smirk that showed just the tips of his fangs and she knew that it was alright.

"You are either very brave or very unfortunate to have become my bride," he told her between languid, open-mouthed kisses to her collarbone and breasts that left her chest heaving. "I have a long path as ruler ahead of me. I must fight back enemies on all sides, and you will assist me by giving me an heir."

There was something about him that told Maria this wasn't a simple game of pretend any longer, that these words were his reality. She had always found his crimson eyes to be more expressive than others thought, but gazing into his true gaze of sapphire was like looking into the depths of the sea. She didn't need to rely on her dark powers to see every secret his soul held. Freshly returned from his time as a hostage of the Turks for five years, nearly a quarter of his life, a wrathful fire blazed within him. He would have his vengeance on the Ottoman heathens who had robbed him of his family and threatened to rob him of the kingdom that was his by right. And there was a certain coldness already present there as well, borne of the knowledge that he and his younger brother Radu had been nothing but pawns to his father, who had ended up getting himself and Vlad's older brother killed in his folly. Maria had seen both of these facets of his being before, when he released them from their binds to become a weapon and shield.

But there was something unfamiliar glinting like the sun on the sea's surface, and that was an unshakable conviction. He saw the path that he wanted his life to take as rightful ruler of Wallachia and more as if God were shining a light down upon him. He had lost that light when he took his first crimson sacrament and had never regained it.

"My king," Maria swore to him, "I will fulfill your every desire, and the world will tremble to behold us."

Vlad smiled as his fingers danced tenderly across her cheek. "I knew the moment I first saw you that you were destined to be mine. That together we would do great things."

Leaning into the caresses that she was secretly starved for, she gave him a small but nonetheless brilliant smile before giving him a bold yet sweet kiss he returned gladly. "I'm not nervous anymore," she told him.

"I'm aware," he chuckled, and when his hot length rubbed against her aching entrance her heart leapt in anticipation.

Alucard and Maria had played around many times when she was a human, and since she had officially joined him in the Night two years ago she and Vlad had wasted away many a day and night familiarizing themselves with the other. Perhaps it was the wedding, or their youthful appearances, or maybe it was their warm touch and rushing heartbeats, but each of their movements seemed to carry more import than ever before.

"It will be unpleasant at first," he warned, and that was all the notice he gave her before burying himself deep inside her in a single thrust.

Maria cried out from the sudden intrusion and the surprising amount of pain that came with it as her hymen tore and her body stretched to accommodate him. The molten, pulsing warmth that he filled her with felt almost wrong, but she knew that so long as it was her king she would come to love it.

The raven-haired man above her gave a quiet groan as he was sheathed in Maria, his eyes closing for a moment in bliss before he leaned down to give her a hasty kiss and then sat up fully between her legs, calloused palms on either of her thighs for support. He began rolling his hips back and forth, setting a pace that wasn't slow but still allowed for her to adjust to this new world of heat and pressure that she had never quite known. She sat up a little so she could see his cock glistening with her juices and a little blood as he delved to her center time after time, and as the pain faded Maria found herself relaxing further to allow the pleasure to take over.

A curse fell from Vlad's lips as he settled into the rhythm that made their souls sing, and Maria rocked her hips in time with his movements to bring him even deeper until he hit that one spot that never failed to make her unravel. The ecstasy was building up with each and every thrust, yet her heart told her that something was still lacking.

With a playful smirk she reached out for his hands still clenching at her thighs and pulled him so that he was resting fully on top of her. He followed without complaint, and with his comforting weight resting fully upon her she could wrap her legs around him to bring him to the place he was needed most. Vlad began to hit a new spot even more rapturous than before and she cried his name softly into his broad shoulder. Their hearts were beating out a syncopated rhythm, their chests heaved, and sweat dripped from their brows as they relearned what it meant to make love. It was messy, but it was pure.

Suddenly Vlad squeezed Maria's smaller hand he still held in his own, and he bit down on his lip before groaning, "I'm close."

A thrill shot through her like lightning at his words and she couldn't help but give him a sloppy, wild kiss. "Fill me with your seed and I will give you an heir," she promised.

The beat that they had kept so beautifully gave way to desperation, and the room was filled with nothing but the sounds of flesh meeting flesh and their soft moans and sighs as they edged closer to the precipice of paradise, and Maria watched in wonder as the No Life King began to come undone before her. His breath quivered and with a short cry his hips jerked erratically and he was pouring his devotion into her.

As his hot seed took root deep inside her, he allowed his full weight to come down on her and he panted three little words that brought her more pleasure than anything else ever could, and with a little gasping moan she fell with him into splendorous ruin as her body shook and he held her.

Vlad flashed her a proud smirk and seized her lips in a rewarding dance before rolling off her. Maria was still partially lost in the throes of bliss and laid there limply as he withdrew from her. When his warm semen began to leak from her, she did not mourn its loss as she usually did, because she could feel another little fleck of ice had gone to join the other within her.

In a break from tradition, her groom rested his head in the crook of her shoulder, letting a satisfied sigh fan across her feverish chest. Maria wasted no time in putting her arms around him and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. Usually the only times he allowed her to hold him like this was when he had assumed a female form, and even then it was rare.

A comfortable silence blanketed the room and fatigue gradually began to make her eyelids heavy.

"Do you want to go to sleep like this?" she asked him.

Her groom stirred slightly but was too tired to look up at her. "Da."

She pulled the fine silken comforter over the both of them and watched as his breaths slowly leveled out and he drifted off in her arms.

Something told her that she would be lucky to have such a chance again, so even though she craved sleep she forced herself to watch the Nosferatu a little longer. He wore a peaceful look on his youthful face.

As she watched him sleep, Maria couldn't help but wonder how different things could have been if she had met when he was still a human. Could she have done something to keep him from becoming as twisted and broken as he had become? Could she have saved him from himself?

But she had never wished to "fix" him. His imperfections were what drew her to him. His warmongering, his appetite for destruction, his callousness fascinated her as much as it occasionally repulsed her. Besides, after looking into his eyes tonight she had a feeling that he was destined to be the monster he had become, even if it hadn't been the outcome he had wished for.

With one hand lost in his inky black locks and another resting over her belly where now two icy buds were preparing to blossom, Maria drifted off. When her eyes opened once more she was back in the arms of her cold king, who was fixing her with a pensive look. He had gone back to the surly prince she had known in her youth. Maria smiled up at him, but he did not return her warmth.

"Now that I have fulfilled my promise to you, the games and pretend can end," he announced, "and you can begin to give me my reward."

It was so like him to brush off last night's events as a farce. The brunette gave a chuckle as she sat up and pressed one of his bare palms to her flat stomach. Eagerly she waited for him to notice the addition, and when his crimson eyes widened in surprise for a brief moment she grinned.

"Was that your plan last night?" he asked her.

"Of course not. It was just as unexpected to me as it is to you. Now please let's begin my punishment. There are only six days left before we have to return to our duties."

"You were to give me seven," Vlad growled, a dangerous gleam in his crimson eyes.

But Maria was unflinching even as his shadows wrapped around her arms and legs tightly. "That was seven days including the wedding. Better make it count."

With a fanged snarl that promised nothing but the most excruciating bliss he pounced upon her, and all Maria could do was gasp as he proceeded to push her to the very brink of madness and ecstasy for the next several days and nights.

* * *

Maria awoke from a brief hour-long nap at seven a.m. to see Vlad sprawled out beside her in the bed, his short, mercurial locks still wild and tousled from their days-long marathon. The only time they had left this bed was for a change of scenery, and she could now say without a shade of doubt that the entire castle and its grounds had been properly defiled.

It was strange, but after the past six days and seven nights of almost non-stop love-making, Maria had the impression that he had been holding back all this time. Perhaps he believed in the sacredness of matrimony more than she had assumed, or maybe when Sir Integra had released him from his bounds not only his powers but also his desires had been set free.

No matter the cause, the brunette was still practically glowing with satisfaction, and as she watched his placid face as he slept she wished she could stay with him in this little world where it was only the two of them for just a bit longer. A part of her was sad to end their sordid honeymoon, but another part knew that she would be spending the next month or so digging herself out of the work that had accumulated during her break.

She ran her fingers through his chilly hair briefly before getting out of the bed and gliding silently through the door and down to the kitchens for some breakfast. In the fridge was a wealth of blood packets hanging neatly in rows arranged by type and Maria plucked a few AB and O from the racks, poked a straw through one, and drank languidly as Suflețel weaved figure eights around her feet as an unassuming kitten.

 _Tell me,_ Maria said to her little friend of shadow, _did anything big happen while I was away?_

 _The world continues to turn. The mortals continue to writhe,_ Suflețel answered.

 _So no, then,_ chuckled Maria as she moved on to the next blood packet. Her shadows surged up to sweep her long spirals into a loose updo as a simple snow-white linen dress clothed her. A loose-fitting t-shirt cut, the bottom hem trailed just the slightest bit past her mid-thighs and made her curves nothing more than tempting suggestions. Her golden crown and its many jeweled flowers were the final touch to her ensemble for the day.

Puișor dropped off a mountain of correspondence that had poured in since the wedding and the multitude of envelopes spread out on the spacious island in the center of the kitchen, some spilling onto the slate flagstones. Maria gave the shadowy eagle an appreciative scratch on the belly and it chittered its approval before alighting through the ceiling.

With a small sigh Maria finished her blood packets and began going through each one, sorting them by priority. She was expected at the Round Table conference in twelve minutes, but if she could at least get this mess organized she could start accomplishing all of these tasks all the sooner.

But she should have learned by now that it was her curse never to have anything go according to plan. Her only warning of impending chaos was Suflețel's irritated hiss as she faded into the ether, and then she felt a hard and cold presence pressing against her from behind, possessive hands and shadows slithering from her thighs all the way up to her breasts.

"No," Maria said flatly, and attempted to step out of his hold.

Ignoring her, the Nosferatu refused her passage with strong hands gripping her arms as he nibbled on her exposed neck. Maria found herself shivering excitedly despite herself.

"You left without telling me," he accused in a soft murmur.

Maria sighed and tried once again to break free by stepping back, but the only thing she managed to do was grind her rear against his impressive and waiting firmness. "Well, I thought it best not to disturb my king's rest. Now if you don't mind, I have to be at the Round Table conference in nine minutes—"

"That's plenty of time for what I have in mind."

And without any sort of warning or ado he had shoved the hem of her dress up past her hips, bent her over the stone counter, and was sliding inside her. Maria let out a startled cry at the sudden intrusion and she cursed herself—just his very presence behind her had made her wet and ready to accept anything he would offer her like she was a bitch in heat.

Vlad gave a deeply delighted chuckle as the odd combination of her stinging self-loathing and sweet strums of pleasure bled through their mental connection and he wasted no time in thrusting in and out of her welcoming velvety warmth. Except each time he stopped short of filling her completely, allowing only the weeping head of his cock to enter her before he pulled out and began again.

His nubile bride writhed and groaned her longing and frustration at his cruel teasing, and despite herself she tried to rock backwards in time with his movements to bring him all the way within her and to the spot that called for him. But his unbreakable hold on her hips kept her immobile as each small thrust was punctuated with a moist _pop_ each time he left her heat.

"I couldn't have picked a better bride," he hissed. "Look at how much you still long for this cock even after I spent the entire last week ravishing you with it."

"I could say the same for you. It's only been an hour since the last time you had me and you're already back for more," said Maria as she bit down on her lip in an attempt to suppress the urge to use her shadows to overpower him and feel him filling her completely.

He chuckled again as he continued his ministrations. "What can I say? There is something bewitching about you. No matter how many times I taste your flesh I'm never sated."

When Maria reached around to wrap her hot fingers around the base of his cock tightly he gave a groan and resumed his torturous ministrations with added desperation, and Maria found herself moaning not out of pleasure but out of yearning.

But her soft, begging keens were ignored by her selfish king as, with a final grunt and relieved sigh he came all over her lower back and ass.

The brunette leaned against the counter as she tried to calm the tempest of unsated lust he had worked up within her, waiting for him to turn her around and give her the completion she deserved.

It was for that reason that when she felt his presence receding behind her as he began to sink into the floor and elsewhere that a rage hot and thick like magma bubbled up within her, and in a split second she had spun around and wrenched him out of the ground with many-eyed and fanged shadows, her expression livid. He simply grinned madly even as her shadows pinned him down on his back on the floor and she towered over him, her long curls breaking free of their updo to dance about her like hungry serpents.

"How dare you," she hissed, "use me like some whore."

No words left his grinning lips and his crimson eyes were alight with mischief. He cocked one eyebrow at her, and she didn't need to read his mind to know that he was daring her to do something about his abuse.

In the next instant her white dress had vanished and she was lowering herself onto his manhood that was standing at attention for her, feet planted on either side of his hips and hands splayed across his stomach for support. She tossed her head back in delight as he _finally_ filled her entirely, as he should have from the start. The vampire took her hands in his larger ones, and his eyes twinkled with pleasure as she rose up and sank down onto his cock, setting a rough and jagged pace that carried all of her fury and uncontrollable need for him in it.

"How dare you," she continued as she rutted shamelessly against him, "take all the pleasure for yourself. How dare you make me late for the Round Table conference. And how _dare_ you make me do all the work for my pleasure when I'm like this."

The sapphire and emerald of their rings glinted together as Vlad put their hands over her protruding belly. By human standards, she appeared to be about seven months along, and they could both feel the two cold buds had grown to be nearly the size of his open palm. Ever since Sir Integra had ended their servitude they had begun to grow, as though the Hellsing family seal had not only been restricting her strength but also theirs.

"Would you prefer it if I were a doting husband waiting on you hand and foot?" he asked teasingly, angling his hips up a bit to hit the place in her that always made her cry his name so deliciously.

"Of course not," she panted, "but you could be a little less of a bastard."

He chuckled deeply as he sat up, careful not to break their bond. With their new position he could wrap his strong and cool arms around her and give her the deep, powerful kiss he knew that she craved as much as she did his cock. With a gasp and quivering moan she lost her fingers in his long, inky locks and redoubled her efforts as the hunger and want changed to rapture.

"Come," he breathed against the shell of her ear, "come for your king."

After only two more thrusts Maria's body heeded its sire's command and she shuddered and shook in his arms from the perfection of their union as he came inside her, filling her with his essence until she could take no more.

The No-Life King was wearing a cheshire cat's lazy and self-satisfied smirk and she rolled her eyes in exasperation even as she gave him a light kiss and rose to her feet. He continued to lay on the ground like a toppled Greek statue, hands tucked behind his head.

In a brief moment Maria had gotten dressed and fixed her hair once more. "Seven minutes late," she muttered. "Sir Integra is going to be so pissed."

Vlad was fairly certain that his bride's tardiness was going to be the last thing on his former master's mind when she noticed the pronounced change in Maria's physique.

* * *

The following two months passed by in a mad flurry. The vast amount of duties Maria and Vlad had to catch up from their week-long sabbatical notwithstanding, the entire world was up in arms over the fact that the world's two most powerful monsters had ensconced themselves in their lair for a week and one of them had reemerged bearing what was, by the most optimistic guesses, the Antichrist.

Nearly every meeting with the humans turned out to be an assassination attempt, which Maria indulged. She allowed them to ram wooden stakes through her heart, to cut off her head, to pierce her heart with knives recast from the finest silver crosses, but of course she had long ago surpassed the level where those trivial weapons could do anything more than inconvenience her. When the humans each learned the futility, they fell back in line and Maria accepted their fearful apologies open-heartedly. It was only natural for them to fear what they didn't understand.

Vlad, however, was much less forgiving. When Section XIII made the first attempt on his queen's and children's lives with knives of silver and holy water, he had appeared in the opulent halls of the Vatican where he knew their meeting was to take place. Maria had been tied to a chair with the ropes used to hoist up the cross Jesus had been crucified on, and she was looking serenely upon the eight priests who were ruthlessly attempting to tear out her heart with their daggers as they poured holy water down her face that steamed and burnt her flesh away. Through their connection he knew that she had concentrated an army of souls around her womb and its precious inhabitants so that none of their cruelty could extend to them.

With a bestial snarl the monster had drawn his guns as his shadows burst forth in a vile torrent of fangs and warmongering red irises, and four of the priests began to run at him and throw their knives to pierce his chest impotently.

But Maria's voice rang out clear and calm like a bell in winter. "Let them," she said simply.

 _You've always been reckless with your safety,_ he snarled, wrenching out one of the knives from his sternum, _but I will not tolerate my queen and my brood being debased by these zealots._

 _They are only acting out of fear,_ she said calmly, even as one of the priests thrust a knife into her heart. She didn't so much as flinch. _Show them the futility of their fear and they will grow to tolerate it until it is gone._

 _I refuse,_ he bit out, and promptly slaughtered every last human in the room. By the time he was done, Maria had undone the rope binding her arms and legs and her body was unblemished and perfect.

"You have to let me do this," she insisted even as he veritably seethed with outrage at her flippancy. "The humans have to learn that we are immortal now, before they are born. If they realize it's pointless to try to destroy us now, they will be less likely to try to kill our children lest they succeed and we unleash Hell upon them. I don't want our children to grow up worrying who will try to murder them next."

 _Have you forgotten? We aren't immortal,_ he growled.

 _I know full well, but there are cameras in this room that are recording. My reasoning for this was sincere, though._

The Nosferatu looked as though he was one shred of willpower away from ripping her apart with his bare hands, a furious fanged snarl on his beastly visage for several moments.

"You are a stupid woman," he finally snapped, sliding his guns into the breast pockets of his red trenchcoat.

And thus, the No-Life King accepted her plan with incredible reluctance. Perhaps it was because he sometimes still saw her as the same fragile human girl he had known from the past, but he had never liked watching her take the same beatings that he so often did when fighting. However, from the moment he had learned that she was carrying his child, he had become more protective of her than ever before. While he had always been fiendishly possessive, he had always left her to fight her own battles. Now, when a vampire challenged her for the throne or when they knew that she would be walking into an assassination attempt by the humans, he would be lying in wait in the shadows, prepared to step in and teach their assailants the meaning of regret.

He struggled to watch her be assaulted by the filthy humans on a daily basis and couldn't understand where the poise she had during the each ordeal came from. Though with each growing day as her stomach grew rounder and the two babes within her grew warmer and warmer, he began to understand her logic. He had spent his entire childhood in danger of death and did not want the same for his children.

As her pregnancy progressed Maria became increasingly thirsty, but not for human blood. She craved none other than her groom's, who obliged her every night by allowing her to drink to her heart's content, even when sometimes she took so much that he began to feel faint.

Also, though she tried to hide it from everyone as best she could, she became more fatigued by the day. Since truly joining the Night, she had been so busy with her role as Queen and liaison to the human world that she often went weeks and sometimes months with nothing more than an hour or two of naps at a time. That was fine before she had two more thriving little being inside her robbing her of her strength.

It had been six weeks since the quickening when Maria's cinnabar eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell out of her chair to the floor where she lay absolutely motionless. The Chinese humans with whom she had been discussing monster hunting policies with leapt up in fright—would they be blamed for this? What punishment would the Vampire King bring down upon them?

Vlad appeared only a few moments after his bride had collapsed, paying the frantic humans no more heed than he did the furniture. She still felt hot to the touch, and placing a palm to her stomach allowed him to feel the two individual balls of warmth within her biding their time to meet him.

Wordlessly he picked her up and sank into a pool of his shadows, leaving the humans to dab sweat from their brows and make hasty phone calls to alert the world that something had befallen the No-Life Queen.

Vlad brought her back to their castle and with a wave of his hand their bed vanished to be replaced with their coffin. Slowly, so as not to jostle her, he lowered her inside and watched her hawkishly for a few very long moments. But with no heartbeat, no breath, and no sweat, it was impossible to detect anything out of the ordinary. Reaching out through their connection he could only sense the blank, neutral sensation of rest.

Perhaps she had simply stretched herself too thin, he told himself as he closed the lid with a soft _tap._ Recently she had been looking tired and she had been more reluctant to leave their coffin during the day.

 _What's happening?_ he demanded of his familiar.

The dog usually appeared the moment his master spoke to him, but it remained in the faraway land of shadows it dwelled in and murmured in Vlad's mind, _They are close to arriving. We familiars cannot be close to her._

 _Why?_

 _We do not know how the brood will react in our presence._

Something about the hound's words sent a chill of unease through the vampire. He had lost his initial fear that their children would be abominations, but now that doubt was back. These would not be humans as he and his bride had been at birth; they would be a chimera of vampire and familiar, darkness and chaos in one physical body, and their creators were the two strongest monsters ever to walk the earth.

In the worst possible scenario, would he be able to slay them as his old master had ordered?

 _Seras,_ he called, his voice its usual inflectionless imperative despite the rising worry he felt.

His loyal fledgling woke from her slumber and replied swiftly, _Yes, Master?_

 _You are needed. Come to the castle at once._

 _Master, Sir Integra—_

 **— _is your employer and I am your sire. You will heed my command._**

The blonde draculina could not remember a time he had addressed her in such a severe tone. _Y-yes, my master. I'm on my way._

Integra was at her desk reading the newspaper as she drank her customary Earl Grey when Seras all but burst through the doors. The elder woman's eyebrows shot up in surprise—it was the draculina's creator who had a penchant for not bothering to knock.

"Sir, good morning," she said in a windswept fashion, and straight away Integra knew that something was amiss.

"What is it?" she demanded.

"Master Alucard has sent for me," explained the girl, biting down on her lip with worry. "I don't know why, but I think it's really serious. He didn't sound like himself."

Integra lit a cigar calmly. "Take my plane and go right away."

"Sir!" The vampiress gave a deep, grateful bow and then vanished through the tile floor and down to her chambers to prepare for the journey.

The heiress had only taken a couple drags, but she ground it out and made a quick call to cancel the meeting she had with the young Irons for this afternoon before rising to her feet and adjusting the golden cross pendant on her cravat. She made her way through the halls with a strong, purposeful step that was borne of a sense of duty and pride.

When she pushed open the double oak doors of the chapel she was immediately met by the beauty of the early morning light shining through the large stained glass depiction of Jesus with the bloody crown of thorns looking heavenwards.

She sat down beside the one other person in the entire chapel that had enough pews to hold two hundred, and held out a Bible.

"I must admit, I didn't think I'd see you here," she said as he took the holy book into his icy hands.

"A queen should have all of her constituents praying for her during this time," Vlad said, his mustached face twisted into a bitter frown. "But the humans refuse and our kind cannot."

Sir Integra looked at her former servant, a small smile pricking her lips. Never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined the wild monster before her to willingly enter a House of God in an attempt to commune with Him.

"You told me once that prayers were nothing but selfish demands, and that God listens only when you bring Him glory through victory."

The Count's crimson eyes slid shut for a long moment and when he spoke next he sounded as if the past half-millennium weighed heavily upon him. "War. Bloodlust. Savagery. As thrilling as the slaughter is, it is just another form of vainglory that He punishes. It took me five hundred years to realize that."

"And do you feel that you've been punished?"

"Yes."

"How?"

Vlad shot her a sidelong look, a fang just poking out of his playful smirk. "Should we continue this at the confessional? I warn you, it won't be brief."

The human gave an amused huff and placed her own Bible on her lap before closing her eyes and clasping her hands together, and the monster beside her followed suit.

* * *

Hindered by the daylight, it wasn't until sunset that Seras Victoria arrived at the lonely castle, a ball of nerves. She hadn't heard from her master since his terse missive that morning despite several attempts to contact him through their mental link. When she had tried to reach out to Maria and received no response whatsoever she knew that she had to get to Wallachia as soon as possible. Sir Integra had let her leave immediately, and Pip had given her a kiss on the forehead and a yellow rose to give to Maria when they met.

The vampiress knocked on the towering wooden doors and they opened slowly but smoothely to reveal the pitch black foyer. A rectangular swathe of blood red and blackish purple glow from the violent sunset cut through the velveteen darkness and she could see a piece of thick parchment Maria used for correspondence on the flagstones.

"M-master?" she called out timidly as the doors closed behind her and she was swallowed up by the pitch. It was no ordinary darkness—this was the impenetrable murk of a crypt or coffin, so profound that she had to will her third eye to see. She couldn't sense a single soul in the castle or its grounds, and the heavy feeling of dread in her gut intensified by the second.

She picked up the paper and had to hold it a couple inches from her face in order to read it. Though she had never seen it before, she knew that the sloping, elegant script could only be her master's.

 _Seras,_

 _The quickening has begun and Maria will give birth soon. You will take her out of my coffin and transport her to the lying-in chamber in the northern wing, and you will stay with her to act as midwife._

 _You are not to use your powers in any way, and you must keep Maria from using hers._

 _The only time you are permitted to use your powers is if she births abominations. You will contact me forthwith, no matter what Maria may do to try to dissuade you._

 _If the birth is successful and she does not bear abominations, I will return in two months. Do not contact me until then._

 _V_

The reassurance she had been hoping for in his letter was non-existent. With some reluctance she closed her third eye and allowed the abyss to absorb her. It had been over forty years since that fateful night in Cheddar where Alucard had turned her, and yet she still hadn't fully become comfortable with the darkness. Giving an uneasy shiver, she slid the missive into her satchel and felt blindly for the stairs that would take her to the eastern wing and the grandmaster chambers.

As she made her way slowly and carefully through the halls she mulled over her master's words in the letter. There wasn't a single vampire or human who didn't know of Maria's ghastly pregnancy, as it was in every news report and newspaper nonstop. Most of the vampires saw it as a glorious, nigh miraculous event that proved the Dragwlya House's ordained right to rule over the Night. Some others looked upon them with jealousy or accused them of making pacts with the Devil.

In light of Vlad the Impaler's brutal rule and their all-too-recent decimation of two percent of the world population in a night officially labeled "The Night of Hell," the humans felt very differently about her pregnancy. It was the End of Times, Revelations come to pass, proof that Judgment and Rapture were at hand. There wasn't a single human who believed that she would bear anything other than the son of Satan itself, as there were many people who believed that was who her groom actually was.

Seras hadn't known that her master harbored the same fears. Maria had been nothing but elated since the first conception two years ago, and not once had she expressed even the slightest doubt in the nature of her children. There were good vampires just as there were bad, and familiars, though basically chaos manifested, were overall neutral. Her and the Nosferatu's children would be just as good or as evil as they were raised to be, and she had no intention of letting them break the world she had spent her whole life creating.

The blonde trusted her master and Maria implicitly. If they believed the children would be good, then good they would be. Seras had never given it more thought than that, until she read Vlad's letter and felt his qualms bleeding through the ink.

Seras knocked on the grand master bedroom door and let herself in when there was no reply. This room was just as black as the rest of the castle.

"Maria?" she said hesitantly, and her voice was slightly muffled by the hungry blackness.

A soft groan issued from ahead, and Seras moved carefully to the center of the room where she found her master's black lacquered coffin. Reverently she opened it and reached in to feel the soft silk of Maria's clothes.

"It's me, Seras," the blonde said softly. "Master said that the babies are close now. He's sent me to help you."

The brunette gave an unintelligible sound in response, and Seras frowned. Her cool hands drifted up Maria's arm and to her face, which felt cold to the touch and damp with perspiration.

"Maria," she said more insistently as she began to fear that something was terribly amiss. "Maria, wake up. We're going for a walk."

When the oddly cold woman in the coffin did not stir, panic began to set in and she slapped her cheek lightly as she felt the swell of her stomach with her other hand. Seras could feel two separate warmths in her womb, each the size of a full-term infant. At the draculina's cold touch they seemed to recoil slightly.

Maria still wasn't moving, and Seras had the feeling that these babes, who had been swaddled by their mother's excessively high body temperature all this time were not reacting well to the cold. She had to warm her up.

Giving up on getting her friend to move on her own, Seras picked her up bridal style. The Queen gave a feeble grunt of protest, but nothing more and her head lolled limply against Seras' shoulder.

Seras walked as swiftly as she could through the dark, and in a few minutes made it to the lay-in chambers. This room had been equipped with a fireplace, and someone had a roaring fire in the hearth that broke apart the hitherto neverending darkness of the castle. The room was swelteringly hot, and the blonde was bewildered to see that the room had been decorated in a most peculiar fashion. Fresh rushes and various herbs created a carpet that made a soft crunch under her shoes and made the air heavy with their fragrances. The bed was a modest queen-sized mattress, but the down-filled comforter was made of the highest grade silk and lace with pearls, diamonds, and rubies woven into it. Seras lowered her friend into the bed and tucked her under the heavy blanket, wishing desperately that she could do something more than wait for Maria to warm.

On the nightstand beside the bed was a large silver tray of various tools, herbs, and ointments, along with another piece of heavy parchment that had been folded into a precise square. She opened it immediately and was met once again with her master's handwriting. He had provided her with a detailed explanation of the birthing process and of each unfamiliar item and its usage. If she weren't so worried about Maria and the babies she would have marveled at the care he had put into this. Had he prepared the room as well? He must have, because they had no servants. She would never have guessed that the No Life King was capable of such care.

Presently, Maria stirred beneath the blankets, her brow furrowed in discomfort.

"Maria, can you hear me? Say something," Seras said immediately.

So soft the vampiress could barely hear her over the crackle of the flames, the brunette asked, "Unde este el?"

"English, Maria. English." Master had never taught her Romanian.

"Vlad," she muttered. "Where is he?"

"He's attending to some matters with the covens," Seras told her. "How are you feeling?"

"...Cold, and my stomach… Like I have cramps…"

Seras took Maria's still icy hand in her own cool one and squeezed it reassuringly. Her friend opened her eyes for the first time and the blonde was startled to see that they were a disturbing mix of ruby and emerald. She put her ear to her friend's chest and was even more alarmed to hear the faint patter of a heartbeat along with the labored rise and fall of her chest as she drew unsteady breaths.

She knew that sometimes the bodies of young vampires fell back into unnecessary human behaviors in times of surprise or duress, but this was somehow different. A vampire's eye color didn't change back to their human color unless they chose to cast the illusion of it over their permanently crimson irises; they should not be flecked as though she were stuck between monster and man.

Seras Victoria summoned all of the crisis management skills she had learned in the police academy so long ago and dabbed away the sweat on Maria's brow with a cotton cloth from the nightstand. "Maria, listen to me. You're about to give birth. The babies are coming and you're going to help me get them here, okay?"

"Babies?" Maria asked, and her pulse hastened. "But Vlad's not here. I can't find him— he doesn't answer when I call—"

"In Master's time the father wasn't allowed around the mother during the birth," Seras explained quickly. "You know how much of a traditionalist he is. He had me come here to help you instead of him. He'd be useless, anyways."

The smallest bit of a smile grew on Maria's lips before her face suddenly contorted in a grimace and she gave a short cry of pain. Seras put her hand over the bulge of her laden belly and could feel the warmth inside moving about agitatedly, stretching the fleshy walls that surrounded it to its limit.

"Deep breaths, Maria," Seras told her soothingly. "I'm right here with you."

Maria tried to follow her friend's advice, but when they moved again she gave a scream, back arching off the bed as her whole body locked up. Seras tossed off the heavy blanket and tugged the silk dress up to reveal her friend's bare stomach. She could see bruises blooming like ink spilling into water across her youthful skin, but her souls weren't healing it like they should have been. She reached over for the tin of herbal salve on the nightstand and spread it over her stomach, shushing her and offering words of encouragement that were drowned out by her screams of agony. Maria's heart was a bird attempting to break out of its cage and she was hyperventilating. Master's note hadn't mentioned anything about Maria's body reverting to its human state—what would Seras do if her heart stopped? Or if she couldn't staunch the bleeding afterwards?

"I know it hurts but you've been through a lot worse than this," Seras told her, hoping that none of her panic was showing through her voice or face. "Remember when you just about died kicking Anderson's ass? Or when you took in a lake of holy water? This is nothing. Now we've gotta get you to this chair. We're gonna sit up."

Maria shook her head, sobbing as she moaned, "Please, it hurts too much…. If I move, I'll be ripped in two…"

"No, you won't. They're your children and they wouldn't do anything to harm you. We're sitting up, let's go!"

Disoriented and wallowing in excruciation, Maria struggled against Seras' tugs on her arms, but did not summon her shadows to fight back. She seemed not to have any of her powers at all.

Seras helped Maria to her feet and she screamed as she stood. Her knees gave out from the pain and the blonde carried her to the birthing chair that was only a few paces away from the bed and in the center of the room, sitting her carefully in the chair whose seat was a horseshoe shape to allow a clear passage for the infants.

"That's good," she told her friend, pushing away sweaty curls stuck to her cheeks as she panted and wailed. "We're in the chair now. You're doing alright."

Maria screamed as another contraction wracked her body, and Seras' eyes grew wide as her blackened belly bulged so much she thought it may burst. She put an icy hand over the protruding place and watched as the baby shrank away from the cold. The smell of blood hot and viscous filled the air and Seras looked down to see a thick trail of clear discharge tinged pink with fresh blood, and it was growing redder by the moment.

They had to come out, and fast.

"Maria, are you listening? We're going to push now." Her friend shook her head vehemently, eyes scrunched shut as her hands gripped the wooden arms of the chair as if her life depended on it. Seras swallowed back her fear, took one of the girl's hands in her own, and said with all the warm authority she could muster, "Yes, we're going to push. I'm going to count down, and you're going to push when I say. I'm not going to let anything happen to you or your babies, Maria. Okay? Okay. Deep breaths, you can do this. Three...two...one...push!"

She grunted and screamed with the exertion, her face and neck turning a violent shade of red until Seras told her to stop a few moments later, and she panted as if there wasn't enough oxygen in the world to sate her.

"Okay, that was good! We're gonna go again. Here we go—Three...two...one...push!"

Again and again Seras led her friend through the agony. Her ears were ringing from her shrieks and screams, and the black of spilled blood in her stomach had begun to spread to her waist and lower back as the two confused infants grew frightened by the beckoning of the outside world. Maria's breath was rattling and ragged and her heart was beating so fast Seras feared it would give out before they were finished. Her feet slipped in the slick crimson pool growing at her feet.

"Maria, we're almost there," she lied. "I can see one of them— they're crowning. We're going to give one more really big push, alright? With everything you have and then some, yeah? Your babies are almost here."

Through the haze of the pain and the dizzying heat of the room, Maria mustered a weak nod and on her best friend's signal put every last ounce of strength she had into the push, the wood beneath her fingers splintering and blood veins bursting in her eyes from the sheer force of her desperation as she screamed and screamed. Seras wrestled her hand out from Maria's fierce grip and put both of her cold hands on her stomach and pressed in and down as much as she dared, forcing the infants to shrink away from her and head for the only place left, the world.

There was a new cry in the room, bleating and high, and Seras reached down with one hand to gently tug the child out and into its mother's arms even as the mother continued to shake and shriek.

"One more, love! Keep going! I can see the head. C'mon, Maria, that's it!"

After a few more moments that felt endless, the shoulders emerged just enough that Seras could grab ahold and ease the infant out the rest of the way, and the moment Maria felt the hot and tearing presence leave her all of the power let her body and she went entirely limp, her chest heaving uncontrollably.

Seras pressed the other infant still covered in afterbirth into Maria's arms with its sibling, and she immediately reached for the cotton cloth from before to dab at her friend's pallid face as the two babies wailed in alarm at the strange and new world.

"It's finished," Seras told her, letting out a shaky breath as her bloody hands trembled. "Look at them."

Maria was so exhausted that her eyes could hardly open, but when she gazed upon her own flesh and blood in her arms, warm and wailing and flailing, she forgot her exhaustion and her eyes grew wider and wider as the momentousness of the moment sank in.

A boy and a girl, identical in size and weight, but the boy had a little tuft of light brown hair while the girl's was inky black. Their eyes were still scrunched shut as they cried. Tears welled up in her eyes as she guided them to her full breasts and they latched on quickly. The room fell silent but for their soft suckling sounds as they took their first drink of milk. Soothed by their mother's nourishment and warm arms encircling them, they opened their eyes to look up at her, and she gave a soft gasp when she was met with none other than sky blue and meadow green.

"They...I don't believe it," Maria whispered with her broken and raw vocal cords. "They're just like I had always dreamt."

Seras was positively brimming with joy for her best friend, and before she knew it red tears were running down her cheeks. She rose to her feet and fetched the washbasin of warm water infused with sage, juniper, and lavender. Maria thanked her and began cleaning the blood and placenta off them with feather-light touches, almost as though she were scared that they would vanish if she weren't careful.

"When will Vlad come?" she asked softly.

"In two months."

Maria's peaceful expression as she watched her two children yawn and fall into an easy sleep in her arms changed to a scowl. "Two months? That's far too long—he locked away all of my powers and sealed off all of the mental links I have with him and you and even my familiars. I feel blind."

"I'm certain that Master has very good reasons for all of this."

The brunette gave a quiet huff. "He wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be able to stand up to him in the event that…" She frowned, as though the very idea of it were painful, and then found herself once again. "But there was no need to fear after all."

Seras began to tidy up the room by tossing the carpet of herbs handful by handful onto the blazing fire, and the air became heavy with the potent scents of the various herbs. Maria did not move from her chair—she was too fatigued—and continued to gaze in wonder at her children as they slept. The room was quiet but for the crackle of the fire and soft breaths.

Once the room was back in proper order Seras sat on the corner of the bed beside Maria, who was nodding off.

"I think we should get you to bed," she said quietly.

Maria nodded, even though the last thing she wanted to do was potentially wake the little bundles in her arms. With sure and cool hands on her back and arm, her friend helped her to stand and shuffle into the luxurious bed and tucked the blankets up to her waist, lest they rise to high and cover the babies.

Seras sat down in the rocking chair next to the head of the bed and pulled out a book from her bag as Maria closed her eyes, her children resting securely in either arm.

When she heard an amused huff, the blonde vampire looked up to see Maria wearing a devious smirk that fit the No-Life King much better.

"What?" she asked.

"I just realized that our king has resigned himself to two months' of non-stop contact with humans," she murmured, her smile growing. "What I wouldn't give to watch…"

Seras gave a small chuckle herself.

* * *

The second hand of the clock on the wall ticked with all the solemnity of a soldier marching to his death, and as the minute hand slowly but surely moved closer to the hour the humans in the room grew sweatier and jumpier. When one of them cleared his throat the others jumped as if a gun had gone off, and then looked angrily at each other before looking back to their fine leather shoes or the windows whose drapes were tightly drawn— anywhere but the high-backed leather chair that sat empty at the head of the table before them.

The last few seconds before his scheduled arrival seemed to go by in the blink of an eye, and the four men all held their breaths and prayed that he wouldn't show.

On the very moment that the clock struck the hour, all of the lights in the room went out and the men gave a startled cries as they were plunged into a darkness that was more than a simple lack of illumination. This was the bleak black of a world without hope or joy, where there was nothing but a choking misery.

A deep voice that rumbled through the heavy air like an earthquake emanated from the head of the table, as terse as it was imperious

"Speak," was all he said.

But suddenly not a single man in the room could remember how to use their voices, and the air grew thick with the No-Life King's impatience.

"Y-your Highness!" one of them finally managed to say shakily. "Thank you for gracing us with your p-presence. How is the Queen?"

Though the humans couldn't even see their own noses before them, they could feel the vampire's icy vision fall upon each and every one of them piercing them like spears.

His words were even colder. "I do not have time for idle banter. Speak your business."

All four of the humans quivered before his might, wondering desperately if or when his bride would return.

* * *

Sixty-one days passed simultaneously at lightning and glacial speeds. Forced to allow her body to heal like a human and as per Vlad's medieval regimen, she did not leave bed except to use the bathroom for that entire time, and her children remained in her arms for nearly every second of the day and night.

Much as Maria had been as an infant, they were peculiarly calm. Neither of them had cried once since they had entered this new world, and when they opened their brilliant emerald and sapphire eyes she was met with a transcendental calm and ken. They squirmed about restlessly in her arms, on her stomach, and on the bed, looking about their blurry existence with curiosity. She and Seras spoke to them all the time, and though it would be a couple more weeks before they could make any expression other than calm or distressed, there was an undeniable spark of delight in their eyes upon hearing their mother's words.

On the sixty-first afternoon since the twins had been born, Maria could hardly sit still she was so anxious for her husband to return and finally meet them. Seras brought her a loose, knee-length white dress that buttoned up the front, which allowed her to easily nurse them at any time, and she helped to work her long curls into something presentable. Maria had been using her shadows for so many decades now for even the most minor tasks that she had forgotten what a chore even fixing her hair had been.

She had felt naked at first, when the agony of birth subsided and she was able to reflect on her lack of powers. The sly vampire had somehow managed to lock away both the vampiric and familiar aspects of her soul, along with all of the powers and abilities that came with them. Her shadows had become another extension of her being a half-century ago, and the connections she had shared with him and her familiars had long been a source of comfort and strength that she had relied on much more than she had realized until there was nothing but absolute silence bouncing around in her mind.

Yet she had grown used to this quasi-return to humanity. It was inconvenient to have to use the bathroom, it seemed that she was still doomed to a diet of only apples and bread, and if there were ever a time she wished for instantaneous healing it was now when she had nearly been torn in two, but it all felt oddly nostalgic and right. He had made the proper choice for them.

The curtains were closed so that not a single ray of light could enter, but Maria knew it was nightfall when her best friend closed her book with a quiet _tap_ , her red eyes bright and eager. The two of them looked to the bedroom door, and not a half-moment later came three measured knocks. Seras all but leapt to open the door as Maria's heart thumped wildly in elation. The babes were unaware of the momentousness and were each swaddled in her arms sound asleep.

The blonde draculina opened the door wide to reveal none other than the No-Life King, looking just as he had when they had first met so long ago sans the red hat and sunglasses. His crimson eyes went immediately to his queen, poring over her radiant and youthful features in search for even the smallest sign of unwellness, and finding none his view traveled down to the little bundles she cradled in either arm.

Yet he did not move. His gaze was locked on the precious gifts in her arms, his expression blank and unreadable to all but Maria.

"Come," she beckoned with a soft smile, "and meet your children."

 _There is nothing to worry about,_ she told him, knowing that even though she could not hear his thoughts back he would at least be able to hear hers. _We've been waiting for you._

The monster took a step over the threshold and with a perfectly measured gait he came to stand beside her bed, looking down on her and the sleeping babes in her arms. Seras slid out of the room and closed the door behind her with a soft _click_ , and for the first time their family was together.

Maria watched as Vlad stared at the two unfamiliar creatures, his face so smoothe and unchanging she could almost think it were carved of the finest marble. But no matter how much he tried to hide what he was feeling, it meant nothing to her, who had been able to see into his soul from the moment they had been brought together.

She took his cold hand into her warm one and tugged him towards her, so that he sat on the bed beside her. It did not give when he sank into it, as though he were no more substantial than a shadow.

"You are uninjured," he said after a few long moments, still not tearing his gaze away from the boy and girl resting so peacefully.

"Still sore," she told him, "but nothing out of the ordinary."

"And they are hale?"

"Perfectly whole and sound."

He lapsed into silence, likely listening to the three heartbeats that filled the room like an orchestra. She leaned against his cool, hard arm, breathing in his scent of cold gunpowder and fiery power. How she had missed his presence this entire time.

This quiet continued for some time, until finally Maria said, "Hold them."

It was infinitesimal, but she could feel him recoil from her words slightly.

"I have many duties to attend to now that you are unable to tend to them," he told her inflectionlessly. "I must return to them."

"Like hell you do," she growled, and before he could flee these two fragile, unknown beings she slid them into his arms.

To his credit, he took them with his standard grace, even though his brows knit together disconcertedly as he did so. The moment they left their mother's warmth to be enveloped in their father's chill they began to stir in his hold, the raven-haired girl being the first to open her eyes and stare up at this strange new holder. The boy followed suit only a moment later, and Maria watched with bated breath as Vlad took in their meadow green and ocean blue, his own crimson eyes growing wider in disbelief.

Maria, knowing what would come in the next moment, said softly, "Now, don't be alarmed."

He paid her words no heed when the soft pitter patter of their hearts without warning ceased as their irises bled into a fiery scarlet that perfectly mirrored those looking down upon them in shock.

"They _are_ abominations," he spat, his face scrunching into a bitter snarl as though he hated the fact that he had dared to hope for a moment that it could be otherwise.

"No, they aren't," Maria told him swiftly, stealing them out of his arms before he did something she could never forgive. They both watched as the children's eyes faded back to natural hues and their hearts resumed beating as if they hadn't just been undead a moment before.

"Don't ever call them such a thing again," she ordered him, caressing their warm cheeks tenderly as they closed their eyes once more. "They can become human or vampire. Whether they become abominations or not is up to us. Once they can harness this ability on their own, they can choose what existence they want."

Vlad said nothing for several incredibly long moments, a vague look of shock still on his face as he swiftly sorted out what this meant.

"You must continue being human, then," he said finally, "and the familiars cannot be near them."

She nodded in consensus. If either of them changed into familiars and accidently used their ability to be everywhere and nowhere at once they may never be found again. "Agreed, but you need to give me back our mental link. I can't stand being away from you and the kingdom."

"We will think of the kingdom later," he declared, and suddenly he had lost his red trench coat and riding boots for the white buttoned shirt and black pants he often wore to sleep. He leaned close and gave her a kiss that held all of his reverence for her, and she fell into his soothing touch and mesmerizing gaze without hesitation.

When he pulled away to allow her to breathe he wore a fanged grin as he turned his gaze to their children.

"Wodeleah," he said, tousling the boy's walnut-colored curls, "Cersinina," his hand drifted over to run down the girl's button of a nose, "the heirs to the throne."

Maria leaned against his chest, relishing the cool feel of him at her back as their two children slept pressed against her bosom, and took a long, deep breath.

Before she knew it she was nodding off against his chest, and half-awake she murmured, "Tell them a story, please. I want them to hear your voice."

The vampire gave an amused huff and for a moment Maria thought perhaps he was going to ignore her request, but then he began telling a tale that she recognized from _A Thousand and One Nights._ His words were the low rumble of distant thunder that she could feel reverberate in her chest as she leaned against him.

"Once there was a king who had heaped up treasure beyond count and gathered store of all precious things that God the most high hath created, that he might take his pleasure thereof. He built a wide and lofty palace, such as beseemeth kings, and set thereto strong doors of cunning fashion to guard his wealth from would-be plunderers.

"One day, he bade the cooks prepare the finest food and he sat down upon the throne of his kingship, saying, 'O Soul, behold, thou hast gathered together all the riches of the world; so now take thy leisure therein and eat of this good at thine else, in long life and abounding prosperity!'

"Hardly had he made an end of speaking, when there came so terrible a knock at the gate that the whole palace shook and the king's throne trembled. The servants were affrighted and ran to the door, where they saw a man clad in tattered raiment come to beg food. They cried out at him, saying, 'Out on thee! What unmannerly fashion is this? Wait till the king eateth and we will give thee of what is left.' Quoth he, 'Tell your lord to come out and speak with me, for I have a pressing errand to him and a weighty matter.' 'Away, fool,' replied they. 'Who art thou that we should bid our lord come out to thee?' But the cadger would not leave, and the servants ran at him with staves and weapons to fall upon him; but he cried out at them, saying, 'Abide in your places, for I am the Angel of Death.'

"When they heard this, their hearts quaked and their wits forsook them; their understandings were dazed and their nerves trembled for fear and their limbs lost the power of motion. Then said the King to them, 'Bid him take a substitute in my stead.' But the Angel answered, saying, 'I will take no substitute, and I come on thine account, to make severance between thee and the riches thou hast heaped up and treasured.'

"When the king heard this, he wept and groaned, saying, 'May God curse the treasure that has deluded and undone me and diverted me from the service of my Lord! I deemed it would profit me but to-day it is a regret for me and an affliction unto me, and behold, I must go forth, empty-handed of it, and leave it to mine enemies.'

"Therewith God caused the treasure to speak and it said, 'Why dost thou curse me? Curse thyself, for God created both me and thee of the dust and appointed me to be in thine hand, that thou mightest give alms with me to the poor and sick and needy and endow mosques and hospices and build bridges and aqueducts, so might I be a succour unto thee in the life to come. But thou didst garner me and hord me up and bestowedst me on thine own lusts, neither gavest thanks for me, but wast ungrateful; and now thou must leave me to thine enemies and abidest in thy regret and thy repentance. But what is my fault, that thou shouldest revile me?'

"Then the Angel of Death took the soul of the King, and he fell from his throne, dead. Quoth God the most high, 'Even while they rejoiced in what had been given to them, we took them unawares and behold, they were stricken with despair.'"

Wodeleah and Cersenina had remained sound asleep for the duration of the story, so perhaps only Maria had picked up on the echoes of his qualms within the dark tale.

"You're going to give them a complex if you keep telling them such depressing stories," she joked.

He did not move or say anything in return. His body of shadows was tense and unyielding as a wall, and his long fingers at her hips stayed motionless as dead spiders.

Maria reached up behind her to cup his ivory cheek and told him softly, "I've spent these past sixty-one days doing a lot of thinking. It's so much easier when there's no one else's voice in your head. You believe that your whole existence has been a punishment from God, but what if it is a reward? What if He intended for you to cast Him away for the Night?"

Vlad's hands squeezed at her flesh warningly and he growled, "You don't know what you're saying."

She ignored his vice-like grip on her and continued, "What if He meant for you to become the No-Life King? Each sin and tragedy crafted to break you down and mold you into the being perfect for His designs?"

 _"Enough,"_ he bit out, and Maria winced as he squeezed her soft human flesh hard enough to bruise.

But she didn't heed his command. "He saw your penchant for destruction and mayhem, your cunning and your loyalty, and decided to reward you by giving you the powers you needed to become second only to Him. You are to become the King of Hell after the Night, and I your queen."

"You've gone mad." He was seething with outrage, and she could feel his body quivering ever-so-slightly, as though it took every ounce of concentration to keep from swallowing her and her saccharine temptations whole.

"Is it that hard to believe that this could be a gift to you?"

A silence heavier than lead filled the air and the Nosferatu's hand at her waist trembled imperceptibly for several long moments before he released her and the tension seeped out of his body and the room.

When he spoke, it was of a completely different topic. "You will resume your duties as Queen starting now."

Maria looked up at him with a bewildered expression. "What? You want me to go and attend some meeting with the humans now?"

A small smile full of dark intentions grew on his lips. "Your first duty as Queen is to do everything in your power to please your King."

She chuckled as his shadows danced teasingly up her legs and under her dress to spark a fire between her legs. After all these years, his main method of avoiding discussion hadn't changed.

Careful not to rouse either babe, she rose to her feet and carried them into the adjoining nursery room where she placed them in their bassinet. Losing their mother's warmth, they scrunched their faces up and wriggled about in their swaddling before acclimating and relaxing. She beamed as she watched these two miracles sleep and she still wore the same smile as she came back into the bedroom and to her groom, who lay there with a smug, expectant smirk.

Maria crawled towards him, between his spread legs until she was close enough to tug his grinning lips to her own for a searing kiss.

"This could all be over at any moment," she breathed.

His hands as he took her face into them were cold, but there was a warm fire burning within his crimson gaze as he said, "Then let's not waste any time."

The feeling that was like liquid starlight filling her to the brim before spilling out, the burgeoning spring breeze in her chest, could not simply be called "happiness." It was completion. Their kingdom was built, their people were well, her king was beside her, and her sole selfish wish had been granted.

It shouldn't have been possible, but these two monsters had been blessed.

Maria knew that it would not last. The two of them had a neverending list of sins that they would have to atone for at some point, whether it be a century or three from now, and when it was time for judgement she would bow her head before the guillotine obediently.

But until that time, she would keep fulfilling her duty to her family and her people to keep them as safe and happy.

* * *

 **A/N:** And so the story ends. Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, and followed. Nothing makes my day more than one of those notifications!

I'm not writing anything new currently, but I'm toying with the idea of picking up where I left off on a Naruto fanfic (the prologue of which is called Release-check it out in my stories). It's sitting at 183 pages and is only about half-way done, but I seem to have lost the writing bug.

I find that I tend to write when I am not feeling well mentally. Creating my own world in which I hold all the power and in which everything goes the way I want it to is my catharsis. When I am healthy, I do not feel the compulsion to immerse myself in these fictions and therefore find it difficult to write. Thanks to my new job change in October, I am feeling much better and my fingers aren't itching to hold a pen. This may change, though. Please stay tuned. I'm very seriously thinking of writing a Hellsing fanfic that will be based on The Rocky Horror Picture Show to be released sometime around Halloween. Would anyone like to read that?

As always, I look forward to your feedback. Now that the story is over, what did you think of it? Please let me know in a review, and thank you again for coming with me on this journey. Pe curând!

Notes:

Ce este asta? = What is this?

Wodeleah=One from the wooded meadow

Cersenina=Clear Sky


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